If 


4  \  \ 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Presented  by    A,  Ccx-me^o-n, 

BX  8729    .C5  B3  1883 
Barrett,   B.   F.  1808-l«y^- 
The  doctrines  of  the  New 
Church  briefly  explained 


New-Church  Populavy 


n7 


THE 


*   APR  11  1911 


Dootrines  of  the  New  Gkroh 


BRIEFLY  EXPLAINED. 


BY 

B.  f/bARRETT. 


"And  He  thai  sat  upon  the  throne  said :  Behold,  I  make  aJOL 
things  new:'— Rev.  xxi.  5. 


.  PHILADELPHIA: 
E.  CLAXTOK  &  COMPANY, 
930  Market  Street. 


Copyright. 

THE  SWEDENBORG  PUBLISHING  ASSOCIATION. 
1883. 


PREFACE. 


HE  need  of  some  popular  exposition  of  the 
Doctrines  of  the  New  Church,  neither  volu- 
minous nor  expensive,  and  adapted  to  the 
capacity  of  the  average  reader,  has  long  been  felt, 
and  the  desire  for  such  a  work  has  been  often  ex- 
pressed. 

To  supply  this  need,  has  been  the  author's  main 
purpose  in  the  preparation  of  the  present  volume. 
The  questions  are  often  asked,  What  does  the 
New  Church  believe  and  teach  ?  and  wherein  do 
its  doctrines  differ  from  those  of  other  churches  ? 
This  little  work  will  be  found  to  contain  true  and 
intelligible  answers  to  these  inquiries. 

The  expositions  have,  for  the  most  part,  been 
necessarily  brief;  but  the  reader,  who  may  wish 
to  pursue  the  inquiry,  is  repeatedly  referl'ed  to 
other  works,  wherein  the  same  subjects  are  treated 
more  extensively,  and  with  rational  and  Scriptural 
evidence  of  what  is  believed  to  be  the  truth  of  the 
New  Church  views  herein  presented. 

iii 


iv  Preface, 

For  the  purpose  of  showing  the  need  of  some 
such  new  revelation  as  that  claimed  to  have  been 
made  through  Swedenborg,  the  author  has  taken 
occasion  to  contrast  the  Old  with  the  New  view 
on  many  subjects ;  but  in  doing  this,  he  has  been 
careful  to  present  the  view  which  was  generally 
accepted  in  Swedenborg's  day, — well  knowing 
that  the  Old  Theology  has,  in  many  respects,  been 
considerably  modified  by  the  quiet  but  constantly 
pervading  influence  of  the  New  ;  so  that  many  of 
the  New  views  are  now  held  by  the  most  advanced 
Christians  in  nearly  all  the  churches,  often  with- 
out a  suspicion  of  the  fact  that  they  are  New. 

And  that  the  reader  might  have  no  doubt  that 
he  is  here  presented  with  the  veritable  New 
Church  doctrine  on  each  of  the  subjects  discussed, 
the  author  has  frequently  supplemented  his  own 
expositions,  with  brief  and  confirmatory  extracts 
from  Swedenborg. 

B.  F.  B. 

Germantown,  Pa., 
August,  1883. 


CHAP. 


PAGE 


l.—INTR  OD  UCTION 


11 


Why  called  "Heavenly  Doctrines"  .  12 
A  Human  Instrument  necessary   .      .  14 

TI.—THE  CENTRAL  DOCTRINE  ...  15 
Prevalent  Beliefs  prior  to  1757  .  .  19 
The  Character  of  God  as  revealed 
FOR  THE  New  Church  .  .  .  .21 
'  The  Divine  Personality  .  .  .  .25 
The  New  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  .  33 
The  Incarnation  of  the  Divine  .  .  36 
Some  Scripture  Testimony  .  .  .38 
Need  of  the  Divine  Incarnation  .  .  41 
God  Accommodated  to  our  Needs  .  .  46 
Subjected  to  Human  Conditions    .      .  48 

Humanity  Glorified  50 

A  NEW  Spiritual  Force  manifest  .  .  52 
God  in  Christ  53 

III.— THE  ATONEMENT  57 

The  New  Doctrine  of  Atonement  .  61 
Its  Importance  Practically  Viewed   .  67 


The  New  Doctrine  76 

1*  V 


lY.— SIN:  ITS  NATURE 
Y.— REMISSION  OF  SINS 
YL— REDEMPTION . 


69 
70 
72 


vi 


Contents. 


CHAP. 


PAGE 


yiL— SALVATION- 


83 


VIII.— DOCTRINE  OF  THE  CROSS       .  86 
The  New  Doctrine  on  this  Subject  88 
IX.— THE  BLOOD  OF  CHRIST      ...  91 
X.—^'THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD"     .       .  95 
XL— THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  THE  LORD  .  100 
The  New  Doctrine  on  this  Subject  103 
XIL— THE  SACRED  SCRIPTURE    .       .  .112 
The  Key  for  Opening  the  Scriptures  115 
Illustrations  and  Confirmations   .  117 
Xm.— APPARENT  AND  REAL  TRUTHS  OF 


The  Essential  Thing  in  Keligion  .  127 
Reason  in  Keligion  .  .  .  .130 
Religion  without  Asceticism   .  .133 


The  New-Church  Doctrine      .      .  146 


This  Doctrine  Illustrated      .      .  147 
XYllL— CHARITY,  FAITH  AND  WORKS  .  .153 
The  Old  Doctrine      ....  153 
The  New-Church  Doctrine      .  .155 
XIX.— BELIEVING  IN  GOD     .       .       .  .159 
XX.— SEEING  AND  KNOWING  GOD   .  .160 
XXI.— WHAT  IS  IT  TO  LOVE  GOD?     .  .164 

XXll.— PRAYER  166 

The  Highest  Kind  of  Worship      .  173 

XXIII.  — DIVINE  PROVIDENCE  .       .       .  .175 

XXIV.  — FREEDOM  179 

XXY.— CATHOLICITY  181 

XXYI.— SPIRITUAL  SPHERES    .      .      .  .186 


SCRIPTURE 
Xiy.— RELIGION 


120 
124 


XY.—FREE-  WILL 
XYI.— REPENTANCE  . 
XYII.—REGENERA  TION 


136 
140 
143 


Contents, 


vii 


CHAP. 


PAGE 


XXYIl.— MA RRTAGF  AND  THE  SEXES  .  .  191 
XXVIII— RESURRECTION        .       .  .198 


The  New  Doctrine   ....  200 


XXIX— THE  FIRST  STA TE  AFTER  DEA TH  .  205 
XXX— SPIRIT-SEEING— ITS  PHIL 0 SOPHY 


OR  RATIONALE  BRIEFLY  EX- 


XXXI— CONCERNING  HEAVEN    .       .  .213 
The  Need  of  Swedenborg's  Dis- 


CliOSURES  214 

Discredited: — But  by  Whom?  .  216 
The    New    Doctrine  concerning 


Character  of  the  Heavenly  Tn- 

habitants  220 

Distributed  into  Societies     .      .  222 
Time  and  Space  in  Heaven    .      .  225 
The  Light  and  Heat  of  Heaven  .  228 
Changes  of  State  in  Heaven        .  230 
The  Appearance,  Garments,  Hab- 
itations, AND  other  Surroundings 
OF  THE  Angels       ....  230 
Government  and  Worship  in  Heav- 
en  233 

Children  in  Heaven  .  .  .  236 
A  Heaven  for  the  Heathen.      .  241 

How  ARE  THE  DeNIZENS  OF  HeAVEN 

Occupied?       .      .      .      .      .  244 


The  Happiness  of  Heaven     .      .  247 
XXXll.— CONCERNING  HELL  .       .       .  .249 
The  Xew  Doctrine    ....  250 
XXXm— CONNECTION  OF  THE  TWO  WORLDS  254 


PLAINED 


208 


Heaven 


219 


DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH. 


ABBKEVIATIONS 

OF  THE  WORKS  OF  SWEDENBORG  QUOTED  IN  THE  FOL- 
LOWING PAGES. 


A.  C.        stand  for  Arcana  Coelestia. 

D.  P. 

<( 

Divine  Providence. 

T.  C.  E. 

(I 

True  Christian  Eeligion. 

D.  S.  S. 

i( 

Doctrine  of  Sacred  Scripture. 

H.  H. 

a 

Heaven  and  Hell. 

A.  E. 

u 

Apocalypse  Eevealed. 

Ap.  Ex.  " 

u 

Apocalypse  Explained. 

D.  F.  " 

ii 

Doctrine  of  Faith. 

N.  J.  D. 

(I 

Doctrines  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

C.  L.  " 

(I 

Conjugial  Love. 

Contin.  L.  J.  " 

u 

Continuation  of  Last  Judgment. 

X 

V 


THE 

Doctrines  of  the  New  Church 

BKIEFLY  EXPLAINED. 


I.  IXTROD  UCTION. 

Y  the  New  Church,  as  the  term  is  here 
employed,  is  to  be  understood  that  Church 
signified  and  foreshadowed  by  the  Holy 
City,  New  Jerusalem,  which  the  apostle  John  be- 
held in  vision  coming  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven."  (Rev.  xxi.  2.)  The  doctrines  of  this 
Church  were  given  to  the  world  in  a  printed  form 
more  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  Yet  not  one  in 
fifty  among  intelligent  Christians  of  the  present 
day,  knows  what  these  doctrines  are.  The  ma- 
jority of  people  have  heard  something  about 
them,  and  naturally  suppose  that  what  they  have 
heard  is  correct ;  but  they  will  generally  find,  on 
careful  inquiry,  th^t  what  they  have  heard  is  very 
far  from  the  truth.  Many  honest  and  well-dis- 
posed persons  ridicule  these  doctrines,  who  know 
little  or  nothing  of  them  beyond  what  they  have 
learned  from  persons  no  better  informed  than 

11 


12      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neic  Churoh, 

themselves.  It  is  not,  therefore,  the  doctrines 
of  the  New  Church  which  excite  their  ridicule, 
but  that  grotesque  caricature  of  them  which  they 
have  received  from  others  who  have  never  taken 
pains  to  examine  them,  and  therefore  know  not 
whereof  they  affirm. 

Let  it  be  said,  here  at  the  outset,  that  these 
doctrines  are  all  contained  in  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
ture, however  the  carnal  mind  may  fail  to  see 
them  there.  They  are  taught  in  that  higher 
sense  of  Scripture  which  is  above  the  natural 
man's  discerning;  for  "the  natural  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God ;  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him;  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned."  (1  Cor. 
ii.  13.)  But  they  are  clearly  discernible  by  the 
spiritually-minded  and  unprejudiced,  and  their 
truth  may  be  confirmed  even  by  the  letter  of 
Scripture. 

Why  called  "Heavenly  Doctrines '^f 

They  are  called  "  heavenly  doctrines,"  because 
they  are  believed  and  taught  in  heaven,  and  are 
sure  to  conduct  to  heaven  all  those  who  receive 
and  live  according  to  them,  ^nd  since  they  are 
all  contained  in  the  heavenly  sense  of  the  Divine 
Word,  and  are  that  sense  brought  down  or  laid 
open  to  rational  comprehension,  therefore  they 
are  regarded  by  those  who  accept  them,  as  a  New 


Introduction. 


13 


Dispensation  of  religious  truth,  and  are  believed 
to  be  what  is  meant,  according  to  the  true  spirit- 
ual interpretation  of  the  apostle's  vision,  by  "the 
holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from 
God  out  of  heaven."  For  a  city,  spiritually  in- 
terpreted, denotes  a  church  in  respect  to  its  doc- 
trine;  and  "the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem,"  de- 
notes that  new  and  august  system  of  doctrinal 
theology  now  revealed,  whereby  a  New  Christian 
Church  is  to  be  built  up,  or  a  new  and  heavenlier 
state  of  mind  produced  among  the  various  churches 
and  peoples  on  earth.  This  city  was  seen  "coming 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven,"  and  thereby  was 
represented,  symbolically,  the  truth,  that  this  new 
doctrinal  system  is  not  a  mere  human  invention, 
but  that  it  comes  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven ; — 
that  it  is  such  doctrine  as  is  believed  in  heaven, 
and  such  as  accords  with  all  pure,  exalted  and 
heavenly  states  of  mind,  and  actually  comes  down 
from  the  heavenly  sense  of  the  Sacred  Scripture.  , 
These  doctrines  therefore  claim  to  be  a  new 
revelation, — not  a  Revelation  to  supersede  the 
written  Word,  but  to  help  us  rightly  to  under- 
stand the  Word ;  to  unfold  for  us  its  deeper  and 
true  meaning,  by  means  of  which  a  purer  and 
more  heavenly  state  of  life  may  be  attained. 
2 


14      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

A  Human  Instrument  necessary. 

For  this  purpose  a  human  instrument  was 
needed  ;  and  such  an  instrument  was  provided  in 
the  person  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg.  This  man, 
it  is  believed,  was  providentially  raised  up  and 
prepared  for  his  sublime  mission,  which  was  to 
lay  open  the  spiritual  meaning  of  God's  WTitten 
Word,  and  to  reveal  at  the  same  time  the  grand 
realities  of  the  spiritual  world — the  state  of  man 
after  death,  the  time  and  manner  of  the  last  judg- 
ment, and  the  real  nature  of  heaven  and  hell. 
He  was  not  inspired  as  were  those  who  wrote 
the  Word,  but  he  was  illumined  in  an  extraor- 
dinary degree.  He  was  gifted  with  extraordinary 
spiritual  insight.  His  spiritual  senses  (such  is  the 
claim)  were  opened,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to  see 
and  converse  with  spirits  and  angels  as  man  with 
man,  and  to  describe  with  accuracy  and  minute- 
ness the  condition  of  things  in  the  spiritual 
world.  At  the  same  time  his  understanding  was 
so  illumined  that  he  could  discern  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  all  he  saw,  as  well  as  of  all  that  is 
written  in  the  Divine  Word. 

But  Swedenborg's  writings  are  to  be  regarded 
merely  as  human  compositions.  They  are  not, 
and  do  not  claim  to  be,  divinely  inspired;  for  they 
are  not  written  like  the  Sacred  Scripture  accord- 
ing to  correspondences,  and  have  no  internal 


The  Central  Doctnne, 


15 


sense.  They  only  claim  to  be  a  divinely-author- 
ized exposition  of  the  spiritual  sense  of  Scripture, 
and  a  truthful  disclosure  of  the  facts,  phenomena 
and  laws  of  the  spiritual  world.  And  his  teach- 
ings are  to  be  accepted  only  so  far  as  they  com- 
mend themselves  to  one's  rational  intuitions ;  or 
so  far  as  they  seem  to  us  reasonable  and  true,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  revealed  character,  laws 
and  will  of  God. 

We  proceed,  now,  to  give  a  brief  statement  and 
explanation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 
without  attempting  to  prove  them  true.  Our 
space  will  not  admit  of  that.  We  ask  the  reader 
to  give  them  a  candid  consideration ; — to  examine 
them  in  the  light  of  Scripture  and  reason  and 
human  experience  and  the  accepted  laws  of  our 
mental  and  moral  constitution,  and  of  all  that 
the  best  minds  know  or  believe  of  the  character 
of  God  and  his  government  of  the  moral  universe. 


II. — The  Central  Doctrine. 

The  Central  Doctrine  in  every  theological 
system  must  needs  be  that  concerning  the  proper 
Object  of  religious  worship.  This  doctrine,  what- 
ever be  its  nature,  will  determine  the  character 
of  the  whole  system.  All  subordinate  doctrines 
are  the  legitimate  offspring  of  this,  and  are  modi- 


16      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

fied,  shaped  and  colored  by  it,  as  surely  as  the 
earths  in  our  solar  system  are  warmed,  enlight- 
ened, electrified  and  held  in  their  orbits  by  the 
central  luminary  which  gave  them  birth,  and 
around  which  they  all  revolve. 

When,  therefore,  we  have  learned  what  any 
vstem  of  theology  teaches  concerning  the  su- 
preme Object  of  worship,  we  have  mastered  the 
central  doctrine  of  that  system ;  and  from  this 
we  may  draw  a  pretty  just  conclusion  in  regard 
to  all  the  rest.  For  when  the  central  doctrine  is 
wrong,  the  others  growing  out  of  it,  adjusted  to 
it,  modified  and  colored  by  it,  cannot  be  right; 
and  when  this  is  right,  the  others  cannot  be  very 
far  wrong. 

Besides,  the  doctrine  concerning  the  proper 
Object  of  religious  worship  is  'mi^n^eXj  practical. 
It  exerts  a  mightier  influence  on  the  character  of 
the  believer  than  any  other  doctrine.  We  cannot 
escape  its  plastic  power.  We  cannot  help  becom- 
ing conformed,  in  some  measure  at  least,  to  the 
character  of  Him  whom  we  worship,  or  rather  to 
our  conception  and  cherished  idea  of  his  character. 
Our  souls  are  gradually  and  unconsciously  moulded 
into  the  likeness  of  our  cherished  ideal.  If  par- 
tiality, self-seeking,  arbitrariness  or  vindictiveness 
enter  into  our  conception  of  the  Divine  character, 
our  own  character  will  inevitably  be  affected  by 
such  conception.    If  we  think  of  God  as  stern, 


The  Central  Doctrine, 


17 


haughty,  selfish  and  tyrannical,  we  cannot  fail  to 
make  these  characteristics  our  own.  If  we  think 
of  Him  as  acting  from  a  selfish  love  of  glory,  we 
shall  feel  that  we  most  closely  resemble  Him 
when  we  are  acting  from  a  similar  love ;  and  so 
the  love  of  glory  will  become  the  ruling  principle 
in  us.  But  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  conceive  the 
Object  of  our  adoration  to  be  noble,  generous  and 
unselfish  in  his  nature,  then  shall  we,  through  the 
plastic  power  of  such  conception,  grow  to  be  noble, 
generous  and  unselfish  in  ours.  If  we  conceive 
Him  to  be  supremely  tender,  compassionate,  wise 
and  good — supremely  patient,  loving  and  forgiv- 
ing— then  will  these  same  graces  gradually  be- 
come more  and  more  our  own. 

Common  observation  and  universal  experience 
justify  these  conclusions.  We  are  naturally  in- 
clined to  imitate  those  to  whom  we  look  up  with 
a  feeling  of  respect  and  veneration.  We  fall  un- 
consciously into  their  habits  of  thought,  feeling, 
speech  and  action.  We  adopt  their  sentiments ; 
we  assume  their  tones;  we  imitate  their  manners; 
we  often  copy  their  follies  and  weaknesses — some- 
times even  their  vices.  The  love  and  veneration  we 
feel  for  them  blind  us  to  their  faults  and  foibles, 
or  give  to  these  an  air  of  comeliness,  and  create 
in  us  a  desire  to  be  like  them ;  and  this  desire  is 
perpetually  stimulating  our  growth  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

B 


18      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


Now  since  the  tendency  of  all  worship  is  to 
bring  the  soul  of  the  worshiper  into  sympathy 
with  and  likeness  to  th^  Being  or  his  conception 
of  the  Being  worshiped,  therefore  it  is  of  ^primary 
importance  that  we  have  a  correct  idea  of  that 
Being's  character.  No  other  idea  exerts  so  tre- 
mendous an  influence  on  our  own  character,  as 
the  idea  we  habitually  cherish  of  the  supreme 
Object  of  worship.  People  do  not,  as  many 
imagine,  worship  the  same  Being  merely  because 
they  call  Him  by  the  same  name.  In  reality 
each  one  worships  the  God  that  he  inwardly  looks 
up  to  or  thinks  of.  A  thousand  persons  may 
agree  in  calling  the  Object  of  their  worship,  Je- 
hovah, God  or  Lord ;  yet  their  conceptions  of  his 
character  may  differ  so  widely,  that  it  may  with 
truth  be  said  that  each  of  them  worships  a  differ- 
ent God.  The  same  name  may  be,  to  each  of 
these  different  minds,  the  sign  of  widely  different 
qualities ;  for  the  kind  of  God  one  thinks  of,  is 
the  kind  he  worships. 

It  becomes,  then,  a  matter  of  supreme  moment 
what  idea  we  form  and  habitually  cherish  of  the 
Divine  Being  or  his  character.  If  our  thought 
on  this  central  doctrine  is  wrong,  it  can  hardly 
be  right  on  any  subordinate  ones.  As  the  navi- 
gator on  the  pathless  ocean  determines  his  geo- 
graphical position  by  an  observation  of  the  sun, 
so  does  each  one's  intellectual  apprehension  or 


The  Central  Doctrine, 


19 


moral  observation  of  God  determine  his  spiritual 
status. 

Prevalent  Beliefs  prior  to  1757. 

Now,  if  we  go  back  to  the  year  1757,  and  in- 
quire into  the  then  prevalent  beliefs  of  Chris- 
tendom, we  shall  find  that  every  just  conception 
of  the  character  of  God  was  well-nigh  blotted 
out.  We  shall  find  that  the  generally  accepted 
theology  of  that  day  made  the  Supreme  Being 
partial,  unjust,  selfish  and  vindictive.  And  we 
shall  find,  too,  that  this  false  conception  of  the 
Divine  character  was  faithfully  reflected  in  the 
creeds  and  the  general  character  of  professed  be- 
lievers. We  shall  find  that  the  Christian  nations 
and  churches  of  that  day  were  animated  by  the 
same  partial,  unjust,  selfish  and  vindictive  spirit 
which  the  generally  accepted  theology  imputed  to 
the  Divine  Being.  Christendom  was  immersed 
in  very  thick  darkness.  There  was  a  general  and 
deep  eclipse  of  faith,  and  the  charity  for  which 
the  primitive  Christians  were  distinguished,  had 
quite  departed  from  the  church.  And  along  with 
the  extinction  of  true  charity  and  a  living  faith 
and  a  just  conception  of  the  Divine  character,  all 
knowledge  of  man's  higher  life  and  the  w^ay  to  its 
attainment,  as  well  as  of  the  nature  and  reality 
of  heaven  and  hell  and  all  things  spiritual,  had 
well-nigh  perished.    And  thus  was  fulfilled,  in  its 


20      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

spiritual  sense,  that  Divine  prediction:  "The  sun 
shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall  not  give 
her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven." 

This  (according  to  the  belief  and  teachings  of 
the  New  Church)  was  "  the  consummation  of  the 
age"  foretold  in  the  Gospels, — the  end  of  the  first 
Christian  Dispensation  or  Church.  This  was  the 
day  which  the  Lord  foresaw  and  foretold,  when 
"the  abomination  of  desolation  spoken  of  by 
Daniel  the  prophet,"  would  be  seen  "  standing  in 
the  holy  place ; "  the  day  when  "  false  Christs 
and  false  prophets  "  (fundamental  and  congenital 
false  religious  doctrines)  should  arise,  deceiving, 
"if  it  were  possible,  even  the  elect." 

And  is  it  strange  that,  at  such  a  juncture,  a 
wise  and  loving  Father  should  have  vouchsafed 
to  men  a  further  revelation  of  Himself  and  the 
things  of  his  kingdom  ?  It  would  have  been  far 
more  strange  if  He  had  not.  Especially  as  the 
same  inspired  prophecy  which  proclaims  the  great 
darkness  that  was  to  fall  upon  the  church,  fore- 
tells also  a  glorious  illumination  that  was  to  follow 
— another  coming  of  the  Lord  himself  "  with 
power  and  great  glory."  And  this  second  com- 
ing of  the  Son  of  Man,  we  observe,  was  to  be 
"  in  the  clouds  of  heaven ;  "  which,  in  the  sym- 
bolic language  of  Scripture,  means  a  coming  or 
revealing  of  Himself  in  the  heavenly  sense  of  the 
Word,  through  the  obscurity  or  cloud  of  the  letter. 


The  Central  Doctrine,  21 


And  at  the  hour  of  the  church's  great  darkness 
and  the  world's  great  need,  a  new  revelation  (such 
is  the  belief  and  teaching  of  the  New  Church)  was 
vouchsafed — the  very  thing  to  have  been  expected 
when  we  consider  the  paternal  character  of  God 
— his  deep  concern  and  tender  care  and  boundless 
love  for  the  children  of  men. 

The  Character  of  God  as  revealed  for  the  New 
Church. 

And  what  is  the  character  of  the  Heavenly 
Father  as  disclosed  in  this  new  revelation  ?  To 
answer  this  question  briefly,  it  is : 

That  He  is  a  Being  of  infinite  wisdom,  tender- 
ness, mercy  and  love.  All  that  is  highest,  purest, 
noblest  and  loveliest Jn  human  character  is  from 
Him,  and  exists  in  Him  in  a  measureless  degree. 
He  not  only  loves,  but  is  Love  itself ;  and  this  is 
Life  itself.  Love  is  his  very  substance  and  esse. 
All  . the  love  there  is  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is 
from  Him,  as  all  life  is  from  Him.  And  his 
lo\e  is  infinite  in  all  its  attributes ;  infinite  in 
its  sweetness,  its  purity,  its  amplitude,  its  power. 
We  can  form  but  a  faint  conception  of  God's  love, 
because  we  can  receive  or  experience  it  only  in  a 
feeble  degree.  The  love  of  a  wife  for  her  hus- 
band, of  a  mother  for  her  child,  of  a  lover  for 
his  betrothed,  is,  in  respect  to  its  sweetness, 
tenderness  and  unselfishness,  a  faint  image  of 


22      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

the  Divine  Love ;  but  in  point  of  intensity,  am- 
plitude and  power,  it  is  as  the  feeble  glimmer  of 
the  fire-fly  compared  with  the  splendor  of  the 
noon-day  sun. 

God's  love,  too,  is  altogether  unselfish  in  its 
nature.  It  is  the  love  of  others  out  of  itself.  It 
is  infinitely  expansive,  difi'usive,  communicative. 
Its  ceaseless  desire  is  to  impart  itself  and  its  de- 
lights to  others.  Such  is  the  unchangeable  nature 
of  true  love  ;  for  it  all  comes  from  God.  It  never 
seeks  its  own,  never  thinks  of  itself.  Its  glory 
and  its  delight  is  to  communicate  itself  with  all 
its  joys,  without  a  thought  of  recompense.  In 
doing  good  and  blessing  others,  it  finds  its  abun- 
dant reward.  And  of  this  it  never  wearies  any 
more  than  the  sun  wearies  of  imparting  light  and 
heat  to  revolving  worlds. 

It  was  from  the  love  of  imparting  his  own  life, 
and  so  making  other  creatures  happy,  that  God 
created  man  to  be  an  image  of  Himself  aiad  a 
finite  receptacle  of  his  love.  For  the  great  end 
in  creation  was  a  heaven  of  angels  from  -the 
human  race ; — a  host  of  intelligent  and  rational 
beings,  bright  and  joyous,  and  forever  growing 
brighter  and  more  joyous,  in  the  reception  and 
exercise  of  the  Creator's  love.  And  this  benefi- 
cent end  He  has  pursued  with  infinite  wisdom 
and  undiminished  ardor  from  the  beginning  un- 
til now.    He  has  followed  our  race  through  all 


V 


The  Central  Doctrine.  23 

its  wanderings ;  followed  it  with  his  patient, 
yearning,  pitying  love ;  followed  it  with  out- 
stretched arms  of  mercy  into  thickest  darkness 
and  lowest  depths  of  degradation  and  sin ;  fol- 
lowed it  with  remonstrance  and  warning  and 
rebuke  and  correction  and  instruction  and  tender 
entreaty,  yet  never  infringing  man's  proper  free- 
dom, but  forever  guarding  that  as  the  apple  of 
his  eye. 

And  the  same  deep,  tender,  patient  love  which 
has  pursued  our  race  through  ages  past,  pursues 
it  still ; — pursues  peoples  and  states  and  individu- 
als from  hour  to  hour.  Nothing  can  turn  it  from 
this  pursuit.  Nothing  can  alienate  it.  Nothing  can 
quench  or  diminish  its  ardor.  We  may  be  deaf 
to  its  remonstrances  ;  we  may  despise  its  warn- 
ings ;  we  •  may  mock  at  its  counsels  ;  we  may  be 
heedless  of  its  chastenings ;  we  may  trample  on 
its  laws ;  we  may  even  crucify  that  love  again 
and  again  in  our  hearts ;  yet  for  all  this  and  spite 
of  this,  it  patiently  waits  the  hour  when  it  may  rise 
from  its  tomb  and  make  its  gentle  pleadings  heard. 

Yes :  God  loves  and  cares  for  us,  says  the  New 
Theology,  even  when  we  forget  and  turn  away  from 
Him.  He  loves  and  cares  for  us  in  our  follies  and 
our  sins.  With  pitying  eye  and  outstretched 
arms  and  ceaseless  longing  to  save  and  bless. 
He  pursues  the  vilest  of  his  rational  creatures; 
pursues  them  into  the  lowest  haunts  of  degradation 


24      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


and  vice ;  goes  down  with  tender  yearning  to  the 
most  sinful  and  abandoned — yes,  down  to  the 
very  lowest  of  the  hells, — and,  veiling  his  inef- 
fable brightness  in  merciful  accommodation  to 
their  states,  forever  strives  to  save  them  from  a 
lower  depth,  and  to  promote  their  greatest  com- 
fort and  best  welfare. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  God's  love — forever  seek- 
ing the  highest  good  even  of  those  who  are  ene- 
mies to  Him  by  wicked  works.  Nor  is  his  love  a 
mere  blind  impulse.  It  is  infinitely  wise.  It  is 
united  with  supreme  intelligence  as  the  sun's 
heat  is  united  with  light.  It  therefore  knows 
what  is  best  for  every  human  being ;  knows  how 
to  bring  good  out  of  evil,  light  out  of  darkness,  joy 
out  of  sorrow,  success  out  of  disaster,  and  ultimate 
triumph  out  of  temporary  defeat.  Infinite  love 
permits  nothing  to  befall  us,  which  infinite  wis- 
dom cannot  in  the  end  convert  into  a  blessing. 
The  sternest  discipline  of  life,  its  most  wearying 
vexations,  its  sorest  disappointments,  its  hardest 
trials,  its  bitterest  griefs — they  are  all  permitted 
and  overruled  for  our  own  or  others'  ultimate 
good.  No  cup  of  sorrow  is  proffered  to  our  lips, 
but  the  hand  of  Infinite  Love  is  there,  ready  and 
eager  to  make  the  bitter  draught  contribute  to  the 
best  welfare  of  our  own  or  others'  souls. 

Such,  briefly,  is  God's  character  as  disclosed  in 
the  revelations  made  for  the  jSTew  Church.  Very 


The  Central  Doctrine.  25 


different  is  it  from  that  proclaimed  from  the  pul- 
pits, depicted  in  the  creeds  and  reflected  in  the 
life  and  conduct  of  Christendom  a  hundred  years 
ago.  We  see  in  it  all  that  is  worthy  the  supreme 
homage  of  men  on  earth  and  angels  in  heaven ; 
not  a  shadow  of  imperfection — nothing  but  purest, 
sweetest,  tenderest  love,  and  this  forever  guided  in 
its  operations  by  infinite  wisdom. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  prove  that  the  charac- 
ter of  the  Heavenly  Father  is  such  as  is  here 
delineated.  There  is  no  need  of  that.  It  is 
written  on  every  page  of  the  created  universe ; 
written  in  the  experience,  constitution  and  moral 
government  of  our  race ;  seen  everywhere  in  the 
Yolume  of  inspiration  also,  when  its  true  spiritual 
meaning  is  fully  apprehended. 

The  Divine  Pei^sonality, 

The  next  question,  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of 
the  Divine  Character  in  its  practical  importance, 
is  that  of  the  Divine  Personality.  Does  God  ex- 
ist as  a  Divine  Person,  or  only  as  a  formless  and 
universally  diffused  essence  ?  And  is  He  to  be 
thought  of  and  adored  as  one  Person,  or  more 
than  one  ?  And  has  He  ever  revealed  Himself 
personally  to  his  intelligent  creatures  ?  Sweden- 
borg  has  given  a  distinct  answer  to  each  of  these 
questions. 

It  was  the  accepted  belief  of  Christendom  a 
3 


26      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

hundred  years  ago,  that  there  are  three  Divine 
Persons  existent  in  and  constituent  of  the  one 
God.  And  a  different  character  was  ascribed 
and  a  different  office  assigned  to  each  of  these 
Persons.  And  this  tripersonalism  entered  into 
the  whole  system  of  the  then  reigning  theology. 
It  moulded  the  entire  faith  of  the  church  into  strict 
conformity  with  itself.  It  shaped  and  colored  all 
its  doctrines.  The  accepted  "  scheme  of  redemp- 
tion," or  "plan  of  salvation,"  grew  by  strict  logi- 
cal sequence  out  of  the  tripersonal  theory.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  doctrine  of  "  vicarious 
atonement,"  the  most  important  factor  in  this 
"scheme."  And  the  mental  confusion  and  dis- 
traction produced  by  this  theory,  have  been 
frankly  confessed  by  competent  witnesses ;  and 
the  angry  controversies  to  which  it  has  given 
rise,  constitute  no  mean  part  of  ecclesiastical 
history.  One  of  the  profoundest  thinkers  on 
Theology  that  our  country  has  produced,  as  well 
as  one  of  the  noblest  and  saintliest  of  men — him- 
self a  prominent  and  esteemed  minister  in  an  or- 
thodox church — writing  upon  this  subject  some 
thirty  years  ago,  said : 

"  Our  properly  orthodox  teachers  and  churches, 
while  professing  three  persons,  also  retain  the  ver- 
bal profession  of  one  person.  They  suppose  them- 
selves really  to  hold  that  God  is  one  person.  And 
yet  they  most  certainly  do  not ;  they  only  confuse 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


27 


their  understanding,  and  call  their  confusion  faith. 
This,  I  affirm,  not  as  speaking-  reproachfully,  but, 
as  I  suppose,  on  the  ground  of  sufficient  evidence 
— partly  because  it  cannot  be  otherwise,  and  partly 
because  it  visibly  is  not. 

No  man  can  assert  three  persons,  meaning 
three  consciousnesses,  wills,  and  understandings, 
and  still  have  any  intelligent  meaning  in  his  mind, 
when  he  asserts  that  they  are  yet  one  person.  .  .  . 

There  are  too  many  signs  of  the  mental  con- 
fusion I  speak  of,  not  to  believe  that  it  exists. 
Thus  if  the  class  I  speak  of  were  to  hear  a  dis- 
course insisting  on  the  proper  personal  unity  of 
God,  it  would  aw^aken  suspicion  in  their  minds : 
while  a  discourse  insisting  on  the  existence  of 
three  persons,  would  be  only  a  certain  proof  of 
orthodoxy  ;  showing  that  they  profess  three  per- 
sons-, meaning  what  they  profess,  and  one  person, 
really  not  meaning  it." 

The  same  distinguished  writer  further  remarks, 
and  in  a  similar  vein :  ^ 

"  Meantime,  and  especially  in  the  former  class 
of  those  who  range  themselves  under  this  meta- 
physical tripersonality,  mournful  evidence  will  be 
found  that  a  confused  and  painfully  bewildered 
state  is  often  produced  by  it.  They  are  practi- 
cally at  work  in  their  thoughts,  to  choose  between 
the  three  ;  sometimes  actually  and  decidedly  pre- 
ferring one  to  another ;  doulbting  how  to  adjust 
their  minds  in  worship ;  uncertain,  often,  which 
of  the  three  to  obey  ;  turning  away,  possibly,  from 
one  in  a  feeling  of  dread  that  might  well  be  called 
aversion ;  devoting  themselves  to  another  as  the 
Romanist  to  his  patron  saint.    This,  in  fact,  is 


28      Tlie  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


polytheism,  and  not  the  clear,  simple  love  of  God. 
There  is  true  love  in  it,  doubtless,  but  the  comfort 
of  love  is  not  here.  The  mind  is  involved  in  a 
dismal  confusion  which  we  cannot  think  of  with- 
out the  sincerest  pitv.  Xo  soul  can  truly  rest  in 
God,  when  God  is  two  or  three,  and  these  in  such 
a  sense  that  a  choice  between  them  must  be  contin- 
uallv  suggested." — BushnelVs  ''God  in  Christ,^^ 
pp.  131-4. 

This,  from  a  man  of  profound  thought,  reverent 
feeling,  close  observation,  deep  experience  and  rare 
candor ;  and  one  whose  long  and  extensive  ac- 
quaiutance  among  the  churches  professing  the  tri- 
personal  doctrine,  enabled  him  to  speak  with  con- 
fidence on  the  subject.  And  more  recent  writers 
of  the  orthodox  school,  have  borne  similar  testi- 
mony— some  of  them  not  hesitating  to  character- 
ize tripersonalism  as  tritheism.  Thus  a  corre- 
spondent of  the  Christian  Union,  as  late  as  De- 
cember, 1880,  T\Tites  to  that  paper: 

"  A  little  boy  friend  of  mine  spoke  recently  of 
'the  Jesus-God,  and  the  other  one.'  /am  aware 
of  a  similar  confusion  of  thought.  How  can  I 
avoid  it  ?  How  can  I  learn  to  think  of  Jesus  as 
God,  without  a  feeling  that  there  is  another,  '  the 
high  and  mighty  Ruler  of  the  universe  '  ?  I  feel 
that  I  lose  much  that  I  might  have  of  comfort  and 
rest  and  joy  in  prayer  and  companionship  with 
God,  if  I  were  not  thus  confused.  Some  find  an 
easy  way  out  of  the  difficulty  by  rejecting  the  di- 
vinity of  Christ.  What  can  I  do,  who  desire  to 
worship  Christ  as  God?" 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


29 


And  in  their  reply  to  this  inquiry,  the  thought- 
ful and  accomplished  editors  of  that  paper  say  : 

"  Of  all  errors  the  most  dangerous  are  those 
which  pervade  the  community  like  malaria  in  the 
air ;  arising  no  one  can  tell  when  or  where  ;  per- 
vading all  teaching,  though  avowed  in  none.  Such 
is  the  error  of  Tritheism,  the  doctrine  that  there 
are  three  Gods.  No  one  teaches  it,  but  most 
Christians  believe  it.  It  is  universally  denied, 
and  generally  accepted  ;  denied  in  the  creeds,  ac- 
cepted in  the  experience.  God  the  Father  is  con- 
ceived as  Judge,  majestic,  awful,  stern,  inexora- 
ble ;  the  embodiment  of  law  and  justice.  Christ 
is  conceived  as  Friend,  meek,  loving,  tender,  pity- 
ing ;  the  embodiment  of  a  tender  compassion.  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  conceived  as  an  Effluence,  impal- 
pable, invisible,  ineffable  ;  a  Shadow  cast  by  God, 
which  eludes  all  grasp.  .  .  .  Does  not  this  fairly 
describe  the  commonest  thought  of  God  ?  And 
is  not  this  really  a  thought  of  three  Gods  ? 

"  This  conception  of  God  is  so  pervasive  of 
Christian  literature  and  Christian  teaching  that 
it  poisons  minds  least  aware  of  it.  .  .  .  Oh,  what 
a  misreported,  maligned,  ill-treated  God  is  ours ! 
Idolatry  still  flourishes  ;  and  in  Christian  presses, 
pulpits,  books  and  Sunday-schools.  The  idols  are 
sometimes  grotesque,  sometimes  horrible ;  only 
they  are  no  longer  of  wood  and  stone. 

"  How  can  you  avoid  confusion  of  thought  ? 
By  taking  your  thought  of  God,  and  your  whole 
thought  of  God,  from  the  earthly  life  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  Tell  your  boy  friend  that  the 
*  Jesus-God '  is  the  only  God ;  that  there  is  no 
'other  One.'  You  cannot  teach  him  this  lesson 
3* 


30      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  ChurcL 


in  a  sentence ;  you  cannot  so  teach  it  to  yourself. 
Go  constantly,  habitually,  to  the  life  of  Christ  for 
your  conception  of  God.  .  .  .  Worship  only  the 
God  you  see  in  Christ." 

Here  we  have  the  frank  confession  of  honest 
and  intelligent  men,  long  and  still  connected  with 
the  orthodox  school.  And  what  is  it  ?  Why, 
that  the  generally  accepted  "  doctrine  of  to-day 
concerning  God — the  doctrine  which  "most  Chris- 
tians helieve,^^  is  "the  error  of  Tritheism,  the  doc- 
trine that  there  are  three  Gods."  And  that  this 
conception  or  misconception  of  the  supreme  object 
of  worship,  "  is  so  pervasive  of  Christian  litera- 
ture and  Christian  teaching,  that  it  poisons  minds 
least  aware  of  it."  And  Dr.  Bushnell.  (who  cer- 
tainly ought  to  have  known)  declares  that  this 
"generally  accepted"  doctrine  "often  produces  a 
painfully  bewildered  state,"  involving  the  mind 
of  the  believer  "  in  a  dismal  confusion  which  we 
cannot  think  of  without  the  sincerest  pity." 

Such  a  confession  as  this  from  distinguished 
ministers  of  the  orthodox  school,  is  valuable  as 
showing  the  need  there  was  of  a  New  Theology 
at  the  time  Swedenborg  wrote — a  need  that  still 
exists,  and  grows  more  and  more  imperative  with 
the  increase  of  intelligence  and  the  progressive 
development  of  the  human  mind.  If  an  error  so 
fundamental  as  the  one  here  confessed  respecting 
the  supreme  Object  of  worship,  early  invaded  the 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


31 


Christian  church,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
all  the  other  doctrines  of  Christianity  should  have 
been  perverted  and  falsified,  and  a  new  revelation 
have  been  required  to  disperse  the  darkness.  It 
would,  indeed,  have  been  a  wonder,  had  this  not 
happened.  And  Swedenborg,  in  perfect  agree- 
ment on  this  subject  with  the  authors  just  quoted, 
declares  the  prevailing  belief  of  the  church  in  his 
day  to  be  a  belief  in  three  Gods ;  and  he  traced 
the  numerous  errors  and  corruptions  of  Christian 
theology  to  this  fundamental  falsity.  Quoting  the 
words  of  the  Athanasian  creed,  and  showing  that 
"there  arises  thence  no  other  idea  than  that  there 
are  three  Gods  unanimous  and  agreeing  together," 
he  proceeds : 

That  the  whole  system  of  Christian  theology 
at  this  day  is  founded  on  an  idea  of  three  Gods, 
is  evident  from  the  doctrjne  of  justification  which 
is  the  principal  of  the  doctrinals  of  the  Christian 
church,  both  among  Roman  Catholics  and  Protes- 
tants. That  doctrine  sets  forth  that  Goithc  Fa- 
ther sent  his  Son  to  redeem  and  save  mankind, 
and  gives  the  Holy  Spirit  to  operate  the  same. 
Every  man  who  hears,'reads  or  repeats  this,  can- 
not but  in  thought  or  idea  divide  God  into  three, 
and  suppose  that  one  God  sent  another  and  oper- 
ates by  a  third.  That  the  same  thought  of  a 
Divine  Trinity  distinguished  into  three  Persons, 
each  of  whom  is  God,  is  continued  throughout  the 
rest  of  the  doctrinals  of  the  present  church,  as 
from  a  head  into  its  body,  will  be  demonstrated 
in  its  proper  place."    (B.  E.,  n.  35.) 


32      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


And  among  the  propositions  affirmed  in  the 
same  treatise,  and  briefly  analyzed  and  demon- 
strated, are  the  following: 

"  YI.  That,  after  the  idea  of  a  Trinity  of  Per- 
sons and  the  consequent  idea  of  three  Gods,  has 
been  rejected,  and  the  idea  of  one  God  .  .  .  re- 
ceiv^ed  in  its  stead,  the  tenets  of  the  aforesaid 
[popular]  Theology  are  seen  to  be  erroneous. 

"  YII.  That  then  the  true  and  saving  faith, 
which  is  a  faith  in  one  God,  united  with  good 
works,  may  be  acknowledged  and  received. 

**  IX.  That  the  faith  of  the  present  day  has 
separated  religion  from  the  church,  since  religion 
consists  in  the  acknowledgment  and  worship  of 
one  God  from  faith  grounded  in  charity. 

"  XI.  That  from  the  faith  of  the  present  church 
there  results  a  worship  of  the  mouth  and  not  of 
the  life;  yet  the  worship  of  the  mouth  is  accepted 
by  the  Lord  only  in  proportion  as  it  proceeds  from 
the  worship  of  the  life. 

''XIY.  That  the  doctrine  of  the  faith  of  the 
present  church  ascribes  to  God  human  attributes ; 
as  that  He  regarded  man  from  anger,  and  required 
to  be  reconciled ;  that  He  is  reconciled  through 
the  love  He  bore  his  Son  and  by  the  intercession 
of  the  latter ;  that  He  required  to  be  appeased  by 
the  sufferings  of  his  Son,  and  thus  to  be  brought 
back  to  mercy ;  and  that  He  imputes  the  right- 
eousness of  his  Son  to  an  unrighteous  man  who 
supplicates  it  from  faith  alone. 

''XY.  That  from  the  faith  of  the  present  church 
monstrous  births  have  been  and  may  still  be  pro- 
duced ;  such  as  instantaneous  salvation  by  an  act 
of  immediate  mercy ;  predestination  ;  the  notions 


The  Central  Doctrine, 


33 


that  God  has  no  respect  to  men's  works,  but  to 
faith  alone ;  that  there  is  no  connection  between 
charity  and  faith  ;  that  man  in  conversion  is  like  a 
stock ;  with  many  more  heresies  of  the  same  kind ; 
...  and  that  the  heresies  from  the  first  times  of 
the  church  to  the  present  day,  have  sprung  from 
no  other  source  than  the  idea  of  three  Gods. 

XYII.  That  the  infestation  from  falsities  and 
the  consequent  eclipse  of  every  truth,  or  the  deso- 
lation which  at  this  day  prevails  in  the  Christian 
churches,  is  what  is  meant  by  the  great  affliction 
such  as  was  not  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
nor  ever  shall  be,  Matt.  xxiv.  21. 

"  XXII.  That  the  opening  and  rejection  of  the 
faith  of  the  present  church,  and  the  revelation  and 
reception  of  the  tenets  of  the  faith  of  the  New 
Chtirch  [with  a  life  conformable  thereto],  is  what 
is  meant  by  these  words  in  the  Apocalypse  :  '  He 
that^^t  upon  the  throne  saidj  Behold  I  make^all 
things  new,  xxi.  5.'  " 

The  New  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

Now,  contrary  to  the  old  tripersonal  doctrine, 
and  contrary  also  to  that  dreary  pantheism  which 
doubts  or  denies  the  Divine  Personality,  the  New 
Theology  as  expounded  by  Swedenborg,  teaches 
the  strict  personal  unity  of  God.  It  teaches  that 
He  exists  as  one  Divine  Person,  in  whom  never- 
theless is  a  Trinity  represented  in  Scripture  by 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit:  This,  however,  is 
not  a  trinity  of  persons,  but  of  the  great  essen- 
tials in  the  one  Divine  Being — Love,  Wisdom 
C 


34      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

and  their  Proceeding  Operation — corresponding 
to  the  trinity  in  the  natural  sun,  of  heat,  light 
and  their  proceeding  operation,  and  illustrated 
also  by  the  trinity  in  man  who  was  created  in 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God ;  the  trinity,  that 
is,  of  soul,  body  and  their  resultant  activity,  or  of 
will,  understanding  and  their  joint  operation.* 

How  perfectly  this  new  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
Trinity  is  illustrated  by  the  trinity  in  the  sun  of 
our  world,  may  be  seen  from  their  correspondence. 
The  heat  of  the  sun  corresponds  to  the  Divine 
Love,  which  is  the  all-begetting  principle  signified 
by  the  Father;  for  love  is  spiritual  heat.  The 
light  of  the  sun  corresponds  to  the  Divine  Wisdom 
or  Truth,  which  is  the  form  or  manifestation  of 
love,  and  is  what  is  signified  by  the  Son;  for 
truth  is  spiritual  light.  And  the  proceeding 
operation  of  the  sun's  heat  and  light  corresponds 
to  the  proceeding  and  constant  operation  of  the 
Lord's  Love  and  Wisdom,  Avhich  is  what  is  sig- 
nified by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

This  Trinity  finds  an  illustration,  also,  in  the 
will,  understanding  and  action  of  every  regenerate 
man.  For  man  is  regenerate  in  the  degree  that 
he  is  created  anew  after  the  Divine  likeness ;  or 
in  the  degree  that  the  love  in  his  will  is  an  image 

*  For  an  extended  and  exhaustive  treatment  of  this  subject, 
with  proofs  from  reason  and  Scripture,  see  Barrett's  "  Letters  on 
the  Divine  Trinity  addressed  to  Henry  Ward  Beecher." 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


35 


of  the  Divine  Love ;  the  truth  in  his  understand- 
ing an  image  of  the  Divine  Wisdom ;  and  the 
sphere  of  his  activities,  an  image  of  the  sphere 
of  the  Divine  Beneficence.  Man,  therefore,  when 
he  becomes  through  regeneration  a  living  soul,  is 
a  perfect  image  of  the  Divine  Trinity.  Hence, 
we  read  that  "  God  created  man  in  his  own  image." 
If,  then,  a  true  man  is  an  image  of  the  true  and 
living  God,  he  must  needs  be  an  image  of  the 
trinity  in  God.  And  we  can  best  learn  the  nature 
of  the  Divine  Trinity,  therefore,  by  contemplating 
its  image  in  man. 

This  new  doctrine  is  seen  to  be  at  once  rational 
and  intelligible  ;  and  it  will  be  found,  on  careful 
examination,  to  be  equally  Scriptural.  It  enables 
us  to  see  clearly  what  is  meant  when  it  is  said 
that  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  one.  They  are 
one  as  heat  and  light  are  one  in  the  sun,  or  as  the 
soul  and  body  are  one  person.  We  see,  too,  that 
the  Son  brings  the  Father  forth  to  view  (John  i. 
18  j  as  light  is  the  visible  manifestation  of  heat^ 
or  as  the  body  brings  to  view  the  otherwise  in- 
visible soul.  And  we  can  understand  what  is 
meant  when  it  is  said,  and  why  it  is  said,  that  no 
one  Cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  the  Son  (John 
xiv.  6) ;  for  no  man  can  approach  or  contemplate 
the  absolute  Divinity  (the  Father),  except  in  or 
through  the  medium  of  something  suited  to  his 
finite  capacities — something  accommodated  to  his 


36      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


state  and  needs ;  and  this  among  Christians  is  the 
Divine  Humanity  (the  Son). 

Moreover,  it  presents  God  to  us  as  a  divinely 
human  Being  or  Person — as  a  Divine  Man.  It 
affirms  that  the  attributes  of  love,  wisdom,  mercv, 
holiness  and  the  like,  imply  personality,  and  can- 
not be  predicated  of  anything  but  a  person.  TTe 
cannot  even  imagine  love  or  wisdom  to  exist  apart 
from  the  person  who  loves,  thinks  and  is  wise. 
Nor  should  we  think  of  applying  the  adjectives, 
righteous,  holy  and  just,  to  gravitation,  heat  or 
electricity — to  anything,  in  short,  but  a  self-con- 
scious and  rational  being  or  person. 

The  personality,  then,  but  not  the  f rzpersonality 
of  Grod — his  absolute  oneness  in  essence  and  in 
person,  in  Whom,  nevertheless,  are  three  insepa- 
rable essentials — this,  coupled  with  the  assumption 
and  glorification  of  the  human  by  the  Divine,  is 
the  central  doctrine  of  the  true  Christian  religion, 
according  to  the  teachings  of  the  New  Church 

The  Incarnation  of  the  Divine. 

This  Church  further  believes  and  teaches  that 
the  Divine  Being  did,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  come 
and  reveal  himself  personally  unto  men.  From 
love  toward  his  human  offspring,  He  came  down 
into  our  natural  human  conditions  and  relations 
according  to  the  laws  of  his  own  divine  order — 
just  as  every  babe  is  born.    He  assumed  our  finite 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


37 


nature  with  its  vast  accumulation  of  hereditary 
evil  proclivities ;  had  experience  of  its  weaknesses 
and  trials,  its  doubts  and  fears,  its  darkness  and 
conflicts,  its  poignant  griefs  and  agonizing  sor- 
rows ;  bore  the  assaults  of  all  the  hells  by  which 
humanity  was  ever  assailed — and  conquered  them 
w^hile  glorifying  or  making  Divine  his  assumed 
human.  And  this,  in  order  that  He  might  come 
nearer  to  the  children  of  men,  and  enter  into  more 
full  and  perfect  sympathy  with  them ;  might  more 
effectually  redeem  them  from  their  spiritual  thral- 
dom ;  might  communicate  to  them  more  abun- 
dantly of  his  own  unselfish  love ;  might  more 
surely  draw  and  more  securely  hold  them  within 
his  own  tender  embrace. 

Here,  then — according  to  the  New  Theology — 
in  the  divinely-begotten  and  glorified  Man  of 
Nazareth,  the  infinite  Father  stands  revealed. 
He  came,  as  He  said,  to  bring  the  Father  forth 
to  view.  He  declared  to  Philip  :  "  He  that  hath 
seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father ;  "  "I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  me."  He  was  the  visi- 
ble manifestation  of  the  Divine  Being  here  on 
earth;  the  Infinite  revealed  in  the  finite;  "God 
manifest  in  the  flesh;  "  Divinity  in  such  vital  and 
organic  union  with  humanity  as  to  have  experi- 
ence of  all  its  obscurity,  weakness,  want  and  woe, 
and  so  be  able  to  deliver  it  from  its  spiritual 
4 


38      The  Doctrines  of  the  'Netv  Church, 


thraldom  and  fill  it  with  a  richer,  sweeter  and 
nobler  life. 

Some  Scripture  Testimony. 

Look  at  this  divinely  human  Being  as  He 
stands  revealed  in  the  Gospels  and  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse !  Study  his  extraordinary  character. 
Read  the  history  of  his  advent  and  brief  sojourn 
on  earth.  On  every  page,  from  the  manger  to 
the  cross — yea,  from  his  miraculous  conception  to 
his  glorious  ascension — we  trace  the  footprints 
of  Divinity.  He  announces  himself  as  the  One 
whose  advent  the  inspired  prophets  had  foretold. 
He  is  declared  to  be  the  eternal  Word  which, 
from  the  beginning,  "  was  with  God  and  \ms 
God;"  as  the  Maker  of  all  things,  having  life  in 
himself;  as  "the  true  light  which  enlighteneth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world;"  as  ''the 
Word  made  flesh,"  and  thus  dwelling  among  men; 
as  the  personal  manifestation  of  the  infinite  and 
everlasting  Father;  as  "the  bread  of  God  that 
cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  givetl^  life  unto 
the  world ;  "  and  as  endued  with  "all  poAver  in 
heaven  and  on  earth."  And  how  fully  his  teach- 
ings and  conduct  agree  with  and  justify  all  this ! 
He  spoke  the  words,  and  did  the  deeds,  and  dis- 
played the  love  and  wisdom  and  power  of  God. 
He  healed  the  sick,  raised  the  dead  and  cast  out 
devils  with  his  word.    At  his  rebuke  the  winds 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


39 


ceased  and  the  waves  subsided.  And  in  that 
memorable  prayer  for  his  murderers,  "  Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do,"  we 
have  the  clear  outshining-  of  God's  own,  tender, 
long-suffering,  forgiving  and  redeeming  love.' 

And,  added  to  all  this,  we  have  the  corrobo- 
rative testimony  of  the  beloved  disciple  to  whom 
"a  door  was  opened  in  heaven;"  and  who  was 
thus  introduced,  as  it  were,  into  the  very  presence- 
chamber  of  the  Almighty,  and  permitted  to  view 
things  in  the  bright  blaze  of  that  great  splendor 
which  surrounds  the  Throne.  And  from  this 
high  plane  of  spiritual  observation — seeing,  not 
in  the  obscure  lumen  of  the  natural  mind,  but 
in  the  crystal  light  of  the  celestial  realms — he 
ascribes  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the  attributes 
and  prerogatives  which  belong  to  no  one  but  the 
supreme  Being.  "  Unto  Him  that  loved  us  and 
hath  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood 
...  to  Him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  and 
ever,"  is  the  opening  ascription  in  this  sublime 
Apocalypse.  Next,  the  seer  beholds  Him  in  the 
midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks,  encircled 
with  a  celestial  radiance,  ''his  countenance  as  the 
sun  shineth  in  his  strength  ;"  beaming  with  love 
and  wisdom  all  divine,  and  illumining  the  churches 
with  his  matchless  splendor ;  at  the  same  time  de- 
claring Himself  "  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Begin- 
ning and  the  End,  the  First  and  the  Last,  which 


40      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neio  Church, 

is,  and  which  was,  and  which  is  to  come,  the 
Almighty."  Afterwards  he  sees  Him  seated  on 
the  throne,  and  the  angels  bending  in  adoration 
and  casting  their  crowns  before  Him,  and  with 
glad  voices  chanting,  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord, 
to  receive  glory  and  honor  and  power ;  for  thou 
hast  created  all  things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they 
are  and  were  created."  And  of  that  white-robed 
worshiping  throng  who  came  out  of  great  tribu- 
lation," and  had  washed  their  robes  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,"  it  is  fur- 
ther said:  "And  He  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall 
dwell  among  them.  They  shall  hunger  no  more, 
neither  thirst  anymore;  ...  for  the  Lamb  which 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed  them  and 
shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  waters." 

Here  we  have  the  proper  Object  of  worship 
clearly  revealed  in  the  person  of  the  glorified 
Christ.  Here  we  behold  Divinity  in  organic 
union  with  humanity ;  the  Infinite  brought 
within  the  range  of  our  finite  conceptions  in 
merciful  adaptation  to  our  needs.  Here  we  see 
the  living  God  graciously  bending  to  our  infirm- 
ities and  wants ;  coming  to  us  as  a  friend  and 
brother;  sympathizing  with  us  in  our  hardest 
experiences ;  going  down  with  us  into  the  deep- 
est hells,  shielding  and  succoring  us  there  ;  point- 
ing us  the  way  to  a  higher  life — yea,  becoming  to 
us  THE  WAY  by  treading  every  inch  of  it  Himself. 


The  Central  Dodriuc. 


41 


Where  else  within  the  records  of  history,  or  the 
realms  of  imagination  even,  do  we  behold  such  an- 
other divinely  human  Being? — such  a  wise,  tender, 
compassionate,  loving  and  life-giving  Father  ?  In 
Jesus  Christ  alone  do  we  see  God  in  that  relation 
to  humanity  which  is  most  intimate  and  tender, 
and  which  reveals  Him  as  the  almighty  Saviour 
ever  ready  to  impart  the  light  and  life  and 
strength  needful  for  the  soul's  salvation  as  well 
as  its  grandest  growth.  And  by  humbly  looking 
to  and  reverently  following  after  Him — by  loving 
and  truly  worshiping  Him,  we  become  internally 
and  gradually  moulded  into  his  likeness  ;  become 
more  and  more  receptive  of  that  Divine  Human- 
-  ity  which  alone  is  our  true  life  and  peace  and 
oup  eternal  joy. 

But  it  is  not  easy,  I  know,  to  fully  grasp  this 
central  doctrine  of  the  Christian  religion — the 
doctrine  of  the  Divine  Humanity.  Nor  is  it 
easy  to  clearly  convey  it  in  words.  It  is  a  doc- 
trine which  unfolds  with  ever-increasing  clearness 
to  the  inner  consciousness,  as  the  Christ-life  is  re- 
ceived or  formed  within  us  by  following  the  Lord 
in  the  regeneration.  If  any  man  will  do  his 
will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine." 

Need  of  the  Divine  Incarnation. 

God  cannot  reveal  Himself  as  He  is  in  his  own 
infinite  perfections ;  for  men  are  incapable  of  re- 
4* 


42      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neio  Church. 

ceiving  such  revelation.  And  when  a  revelation 
is  not  received  or  comprehended,  nothing  is  really 
revealed.    Relatively  viewed,  it  is  no  revelation. 

What  can  finite  minds  comprehend  of  absolute 
Divinity  ?  To  see  or  know  God  as  He  is  in  his 
Infinity,  we  must  ourselves  be  infinite.  Our  finite 
capacities,  by  the  very  fact  that  they  are  finite, 
limit  us,  hem  us  in,  and  render  our  comprehen- 
sion of  God  in  his  essential  Divinity  absolutely 
impossible.  Those  who  imagine  that  they  can 
know  God  as  He  is  in  his  infinite  perfections,  are 
much  mistaken.  Such  ability  is  not  vouchsafed  to 
men  or  angels.  Its  possession  would  imply  both 
divinity  and  infinity  in  its  possessor.  Only  the 
Infinite  can  comprehend  the  Infinite.  Hence  the 
Scripture  declaration :  No  one  hath  seen  God 
[the  absolute  Divinity]  at  any  time :  the  only 
begotten  Son  [the  humanity]  which  is  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  brought  Him  forth 
to  view." 

The  infinite  God,  therefore,  descends  and  reveals 
Himself  (so  far  as  that  is  possible)  under  finite 
conditions  and  in  a  finite  human  form.  Divin- 
ity comes  down,  and  speaks  and  acts  and  prays 
and  labors  and  agonizes  and  sufi*ers,  and  thus 
reveals  Itself  in  humanity, — the  Divine  in  the 
human,  the  Infinite  in  the  finite,  the  Father  in 
the  Son ;  and  this,  in  infinite  condescension  to 
our  human  wants  and  finite  capacities.    It  is 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


43 


something  like  what  a  great  and  good  man  does, 
whose  wisdom  is  beyond  the  comprehension  of  a 
little  child,  but  who  nevertheless  comes  down  to 
the  child's  infantile  state ;  accommodates  himself 
to  its  feeble  capacities ;  renders  himself  approach- 
able, intelligible,  helpful  and  lovable  to  the  child 
in  and  through  the  medium  of  his  body ;  that  is, 
by  the  gifts  he  bestows,  and  the  lessons  he  teaches, 
and  the  feelings  he  expresses,  and  the  things  he 
does  for  the  child  through  the  body's  instrumen- 
tality. In  this  and  in  no  other  way  can  the  great 
man  reveal  himself  to  the  little  child. 

To  pursue  the  illustration  a  step  further. — Xo 
person  of  mature  age  can  impart  his  knowledge 
and  experience  to  a  little  child.  He  may  tell  the 
child  in  simplest  language  all  he  knows  of  geo- 
logical, astronomical,  physiological  and  chemical 
science ;  he  may  give  utterance  to  his  highest  con- 
ceptions of  the  character  of  God  and  the  grandeur 
of  the  universe;  he*may  tell  of  his  religious  ex- 
periences, of  his  internal  and  agonizing  conflicts 
with  infernal  spirits,  and  the  sweet  and  serene 
peace  that  bathed  his  soul  when  those  conflicts 
were  ended ;  he  may  tell  the  child  all  this,  but 
how  much  of  it  will  be  received  or  compre- 
hended ?  Imagine  yourself  the  teacher,  and 
what,  after  all,  have  you  revealed  to  that  child, 
of  your  higher  knowledge  and  deeper  experi- 
ences ?     Nothing — absolutely  nothing.     Nor  is 


44      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

it  in  your  power  or  the  power  of  language  to 
convey  to  him  an  idea  of  your  higher  mental 
operations  and  spiritual  states.  You  cannot  re- 
veal yourself  to  him  as  you  really  are  interiorly 
— in  your  advanced  stage  of  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual development.  And  the  simple  reason  is,  that 
the  child  is  incapable  of  receiving  such  revelation. 
He  can  form  no  conception  of  the  knowledge  or 
mental  states  you  speak  of.  Your  words  are 
meaningless  to  him,  for  there  is  nothing  within 
him  to  interpret  their  meaning.  The  receptacles 
for  such  knowledge  are  not  opened  in  him  yet. 
The  attempt,  therefore,  to  impart  it  to  him,  is 
like  attempting  to  teach  the  beasts  of  the  field 
moral  philosophy ;  or  like  chanting  sweet  melo- 
dies in  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  or  exhibiting  lovely 
pictures  to  the  eyes  of  the  blind. 

No :  You  can  reveal  to  a  child  only  so  much 
of  yourself  as  he  is  capable  of  receiving.  You 
must  bring  your  wisdom  d^own  to  his  state  of 
comprehension  before  he  can  receive  it.  You 
must  meet  him  on  his  own  plane,  and  adapt  your- 
self to  his  infantile  capacities.  You  must  enter 
feelingly  and  sympathetically  into  his  little  plans 
and  pastimes.  You  must  help  him  over  his  diffi- 
culties, and  assist  him  in  overcoming  his  fears 
which  may  be  very  many,  and  to  you,  no  doubt, 
very  foolish.  As  yet  he  has  but  little  under- 
standing ;  therefore  he  can  receive  but  little  in- 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


45 


struction,  and  this  chiefly  through  the  medium  of 
the  five  senses,  and  concerning  the  sensible  objects 
immediately  around  him. 

Now  if  you  fully  understand  this  infantile  state, 
if  you  know  precisely  all  the  little  child's  wants 
and  fears  and  limitations,  you  can  adapt  yourself 
perfectly  to  his  needs.  You  can  come  down  to 
and  sympathize  with  him  in  his  feeble  state ;  you 
can  enter  into  his  childish  thoughts  and  feelings, 
can  instruct  and  inspire  him,  can  lift  him  up  men- 
tally and  morally,  and  lead  him  along  little  by 
little  to  the  state  of  mature  and  robust  man- 
hood. 

But  how  could  you  do  this  without  the  req- 
uisite knowledge  of  the  child's  weakness  and 
wants  ?  And  how  could  you  obtain  this  knowl- 
edge if  you  had  not  once  been  a  child  yourself? 
You  remember  how  you  felt  and  thought  when 
you  were  of  that  feeble  age ;  therefore  you  can 
understand  and  sympathize  with  the  child.  You 
have  yourself  had  the  same  infantile  experience 
that  he  is  now  having.  You  have  passed  through 
all  the  states  of  childhood  from  infancy  to  mature 
years.  And  if  your  recollection  of  these  states 
were  full  and  perfect,  you  would  be  able  to  come 
still  nearer  to  the  child ;  to  enter  more  fully  and 
with  more  perfect  sympathy  into  all  his  states ; 
and  so  be  to  him  a  wiser  counsellor,  a  better 
friend,  a  more  efficient. helper  and  guide. 


46      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


This  may  serve  to  illustrate  in  some  measure 
the  importance  and  use  of  the  Divine  Incarnation. 
For  in  respect  to  Jehovah  God,  all  mankind  are 
as  little  children — very  little,  very  weak,  very 
ignorant,  and  of  very  feeble  understanding. 

God  Accommodated  to  our  Needs. 

Then  in  what  capacity  or  relation  do  we,  in  our 
selfish  and  sinful  state,  most  need  to  know  God  ? 
Not  as  Creator,  Preserver  and  Governor  of  the 
material  universe,  but  as  our  spiritual  Illuminator, 
Regenerator  and  Saviour.  True,  the  devout 
mind  sees  God  in  the  external  world.  The  visi- 
ble universe  proclaims  his  wisdom,  his  majesty 
and  his  power.  We  see  Him  in  the  grandeur  of 
rivers  and  mountains,  of  oceans  and  cataracts ;  in 
the  glory  of  the  night  and  the  splendors  of  the 
morning ;  In  the  flowers  of  spring,  the  luxuriance 
of  summer  and  the  golden  fruits  of  autumn ;  in 
the  beautiful  procession  of  the  seasons  and  the 
wild  magnificence  of  the  storm.  But  here  we  see 
Him  only  in  his  vastness,  his  majesty  and  his 
might.  We  are  overwhelmed  and  lost  amid  such 
manifestations  of  his  greatness.  Yet  we  behold 
not  here  the  God  that  is  suited  to  our  spiritual 
needs.  It  is  a  God  far  off,  not  graciously  near  to 
our  souls.  Not  here  do  we  see  Him  in  any  tender 
or  vital  relation  to  humanity.  In  all  the  beauty 
and  magnificence  of  the  material  cosmos — in  the 


The  Central  Doctrine.  47 


grandeur  of  the  ocean,  the  lightning  or  the  star- 
lit sky — not  here  do  we  behold  Him  ministering 
to  the  soul's  deepest  wants.  Xot  here  do  we  see 
Him  living,  laboring,  battling  and  suffering  for 
us ;  freely  giving  Himself — his  unspeakable  love 
and  wisdom — for  us;  resisting  and  overcoming 
selfishness  and  every  inherited  tendency  to  evil ; 
working  out  a  glorious  redemption  for  us ;  devel- 
oping the  grandest  and  divinest  life  under  adverse 
conditions ;  revealing  that  sweet  and  tender,  yea, 
that  divine  humanity  which  is  our  solace  and  our 
hope,  and  is  to  be  our  heaven  and  joy  and  crown 
of  rejoicing. 

But  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  is  re- 
vealed in  a  form  perfectly  adapted  to  our  condition 
and  needs.  Here  we  behold  Him  in  the  most  in- 
timate and  vital  relation  to  mankind ;  clothed  in 
our  frail,  finite  and  perverted  humanity;  Himself 
a  man  among  men ;  yet,  as  to  his  internal,  the 
supreme  and  only  God.  Here  we  behold  Him  in 
a  form  that  we  can  approach  and  understand,  and 
that  our  aftections  can  lay  hold  on.  Here  we  see 
Him  living  and  acting  in  our  human  conditions 
and  relations,  laden,  too,  with  all  our  hereditary 
proclivities  to  evil ;  "God  manifest  in  the  flesh  ;" 
feeling  as  we  feel,  tempted  as  we  are  tempted, 
suffering  as  we  suffer,  and  triumphing  over  death 
and  hell  as  it  is  now  possible  (through  his  Divine 
assistance)  for  us  to  triumph.    We  see  Him  born 


48      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neiv  Church, 

of  a  woman  as  we  were  born ;  clothed  with  a 
body  like  our  own  ;  passing  through  the  various 
states  from  infancy  to  manhood,  through  which 
we  have  to  pass.  And  then  we  see  Him  conse- 
crating his  life  to  deeds  of  love  and  mercy ;  for- 
getful of  Himself,  and  thoughtful  only  of  other's 
good;  not  anxious  to  be  served,  but  only  to  serve; 
continually  going  about  doing  good ;  healing  the 
sick ;  feeding  the  hungry  ;  befriending  the  friend- 
less ;  strengthening  the  weak ;  enlightening  the 
ignorant ;  compassionating  the  poor ;  sympathiz- 
ing with  the  sorrowing ;  comforting  the  mourn- 
ers ;  and  helping  all  who  needed  help  and  were 
willing  to  receive  it.  We  see  Him  meek  and 
gentle  under  persecution  ;  patient  and  resigned  in 
suffering;  forbearing  when  assailed  with  bitterest 
taunts ;  the  constant  friend  of  truth  and  right ; 
the  uncompromising  foe  of  hypocrisy  and  wrong ; 
"kind  to  the  unthankful  and  to  the  evil ;"  loving 
and  forgiving  towards  his  enemies  ;  and  breathing 
out  that  ever-memorable  prayer  for  his  murderers 
with  his  last  expiring  breath. 

Subjected  to  Human  Conditions. 

What  a  display  of  Divinity  in  humanity  is 
this !  We  here  see  how  God  lived  when  He  sub- 
jected Himself  to  our  human  conditions.  This  is 
the  way  He  felt  and  thought  and  spoke  and  acted 
and  suffered  and  forgave  here  in  this  ultimate 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


49 


sensuous  realm.  It  was  ever  the  same  benignant 
spirit — love  speaking,  love  acting,  love  suffering. 
Christ  was  the  visible  embodiment  in  human  form, 
of  the  perfect  Divine  Love.  He  was  God  come 
down  to  earth  and  subjected  to  our  earthly  con- 
ditions and  limitations ;  God  brought  into  states 
of  darkness  and  suffering  and  fierce  temptation, — 
an  experience  made  possible  only  through  his 
organic  connection  with  our  sin-laden  humanity. 

And  here  is  precisely  where  we,  as  weak,  erring 
and  sinful  creatures,  need  to  see  and  know  God. 
We  need  to  know  Him  in  his  humanity ;  that  is,  we 
need  to  know  what  He  would  do  if  placed  in  our 
circumstances  and  invested  with  our  finite  and 
grovelling  nature ;  made  to  feel  the  fire  of  evil 
passions  and  the  cravings  of  selfish  and  worldly 
loves ;  subjected  like  us  to  the  malignant  assaults 
and  terrible  goadings  of  infernal  spirits.  And  in 
Jesus  Christ  He  has  shown  us  just  what  He 
would  do — just  what  He  has  done,  indeed.  Here 
we  see  the  true  God,  not  as  He  is  in  his  Infinity 
or  absolute  Divinity — for  in  this  He  is  unap- 
proachable and  incomprehensible  by  finite  minds 
— but  in  his  tender  and  beautiful  and  comprehen- 
sible, yea,  in  his  Divine  Humanity.  Here  we  see 
Him  ministering,  weeping-,  sorrowing,  praying, 
suffering,  tempted,  struggling,  like  ourselves — but 
never  sinning,  never  yielding  to  the  tempter. 
Here,  therefore,  our  God  is  brought  graciously 
5  D 


50      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

near  and  into  closest  sympathy  with  us,  and  we 
into  closest  sympathy  with  Him.  He  is  able  to 
be  "touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities," 
because,  as  saith  the  prophet,  "  He  hath  borne  our 
griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows." 

Humanity  Glorified. 

Nor  is  this  all.  While  God  was  coming  into 
closer  sympathy  with  humanity  by  living  and 
suffering  as  He  did  in  the  flesh ;  while  He  was 
displaying  his  infinite  compassion  down  on  the 
lowest  plane  of  human  life,  ministering  to  bod- 
ily infirmities  and  wants,  working  miracles  of 
mercy  and  healing  in  the  natural  sphere.  He  was 
at  the  same  time  performing  still  more  stupendous 
miracles  in  the  sphere  above  nature.  He  was  do- 
ing deeds  of  mercy  yet  more  sublime  and  won- 
drous in  the  spiritual  realm.  He  was  cleansing 
his  assumed  humanity  (which,  by  inheritance, 
was  prone  to  all  kinds  of  evil)  from  its  corrupt 
inclinations  and  depraved  tendencies.  He  was 
eradicating  from  that  humanity  every  germ  of 
selfishness — purging  it  of  every  foul  hereditary 
taint.  In  his  assumed  humanity  were  included 
all  the  tendencies  and  depravities  of  universal 
humanity.  Therefore  He  was  able,  through  the 
medium  of  such  assumed  human,  to  touch  the 
hells  at  all  points.  He  came  in  conflict  with 
every  class  of  infernal  spirits ;  had  experience 


The  Central  Doctrine.  51 


of  all  their  craft  and  subtlety  and  dire  malig- 
nity; and  through  his  own  consummate  wisdom 
and  power  He  subdued  them  all,  and  reduced  the 
hells  to  a  state  of  order  unknown  before  in  that 
dark  realm.  As  the  prophet  Isaiah  again  says : 
"  Therefore  his  own  arm  brought  salvation  unto 
Him  ;  and  his  righteousness,  it  sustained  Him." 

And  while  He  was  reducing  the  hells  to  order, 
and  purging  his  assumed  humanity  of  its  evil 
hereditary  taints,  He  was  at  the  same  time  filling 
that  humanity  with  his  own  absolute  Divinity.  In 
this  way  He  successively  put  off  all  that  was  im- 
perfect and  finite  pertaining  to  his  assumed  hu- 
manity, and  put  on  that  which  was  infinite  and 
perfect.  He  thus  glorified  that  humanity  by 
imbuing  it  with  his  own  Divine  life.  He  ex- 
alted it  to  a  perfect  union  with  the  Divinity 
that  was  in  Him  from  conception.  He  made  it 
a  Divine  Humanity ;  that  is,  a  humanity  endued 
with  all  Divine  powers,  gifts  and  graces.  There- 
fore He  says  :  "  As  the  Father  [the  essential  Di- 
vinity] hath  life  in  Himself,  so  hath  He  given  to 
the  Son  [the  humanity]  to  have  life  in  Himself." 
"  I  and  the  Father  are  one." 

The  process  whereby  this  oneness  of  Divinity 
with  humanity  was  effected,  was  a  purely  Divine 
process;  and  can  be  comprehended  only  in  the  de- 
gree that  one  experiences  the  likeness  of  it  in  him- 
self; that  is,  in  the  degree  that  he  **puts  off  the 


52      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


old  man  "  that  Paul  speaks  of,  and  "  puts  on  the 
new  man  "  by  regeneration  from  on  High  ;  thus 
"  making  in  himself  of  twain  one  new  man,  so 
making  peace." 

A  New  Spiritual  Force  Manifest. 

And  still  further:  By  the  assumption  and 
glorification  of  our  human  nature,  God  placed 
Himself  in  a  new  and  more  intimate  relation  to 
universal  humanity.  He  could  thenceforward 
and  forever  draw  graciously  near  to  all  men  as 
He  could  not  before.  He  could  impart  unto  them 
his  quickening  influence  and  his  renewing  grace  as 
never  before.  He  could  enlighten  them  in  their 
darkness,  sympathize  with  them  in  their  trials, 
strengthen  them  in  their  weakness,  shield  them 
in  temptation,  and  so  exert  or  make  operative  for 
them  his  redeeming  love,  as  He  could  not  before. 
From  the  hour  when  it  could  be  said — was  said 
— of  that  sublime  work  of  glorifying  the  human, 
"  It  is  finished,"  a  new  spiritual  force  became  man- 
ifest among  men.  A  new  and  Divine  energy  be- 
gan to  pervade  the  moral  universe.  A  new  light 
began  to  be  diffused,  and  new  life  to  pulsate  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  especially  of  those  who  looked  to 
Him  in  humble  and  confiding  faith;  and  this,  too, 
in  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  promise.  For  the  Lord, 
while  yet  in  the  flesh,  spoke  of  the  Comforter,  the 
Holy  Spirit  or  Spirit  of  truth,  which  He  would 


The  Central  Doctrine. 


53 


send  after  his  departure,  but  which  could  not  be 
sent  before.  "It  is  expedient  for  you,"  said  He 
to  his  disciples,  "  that  I  go  away :  For  if  I  go 
not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  oome  unto  you; 
but  if  I  depart^  I  will  send  him  unto  yon."  And 
again:  "When  the  Comforter  is  come  whom  I 
will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father, 
he  shall  testify  of  me."  "  He  will  reprove  the 
world  of  sin  and  of  righteousness  and  of  judg- 
ment." "He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth." 
And  still  more  conclusive  in  John  vii.  39,  "  For 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  not  yet  given,  because  that 
Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified ;"  a  declaration  show- 
ing that  the  procession  of  that  divine-human  sphere 
or  effluence  called  the  Holy  Spirit,  was  a  conse- 
quence of  the  assumption  and  glorification  of  the 
humanity. 

God  in  Christ. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  therefore,  is  the  infinite 
God  brought  down  to  our  finite  comprehension 
and  accommodated  to  our  human  needs.  The 
Divine  Trinity  expressed  in  Scripture  by  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  is  all  in  Him.  This  is  the 
teaching  of  the  New  Theology,  as  it  clearly  is  that 
of  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles. 

But  although  the  fulness  of  the  Divinity  dwells 
in  Jesus  Christ,  yet  as  to  the  human  side  of  his 
nature  He  can  be  approached,  comprehended  and 
5* 


54      The  Doctrines  of  the  Nexc  Church, 


loved  even  by  a  little  child.  For  a  child  can  see 
Him  in  imagination,  and  be  made  to  understand 
something  of  his  sweet  and  tender  humanity.  His 
affections  can  be  drawn  out  toward  Him  by  the 
simple  recital  of  his  deeds  of  mercy  and  compas- 
sion, his  gentleness,  forbearance,  intcgrit}',  cour- 
age, sincerity,  his  patience  in  suffering,  his  un- 
bounded forgiveness  and  his  unselfish  love.  And 
in  learning  about  Christ,  the  child  is  learning 
about  God.  He  is  acquiring  a  genuine  knowledge 
of  the  Divine  character.  In  learning  to  love  and 
obey  Christ,  he  is  learning  to  love  and  obey  God. 
And  although  it  is  only  the  external  humanity — 
the  mere  clothing  of  Divinity — that  the  child  sees 
and  learns  about,  the  knowledge  is  none  the  less 
important  for  all  that.  It  becomes  in  him  the 
solid  and  enduring  basis  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
It  is  like  learning  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word. 
As  this  sense  is  the  foundation  and  containaut  of 
all  the  higher  senses,  so  the  knowledge  and  love 
of  the  man,  Jesus — the  Lord's  mere  external  hu- 
manity— are  the  foundation  and  containant  of  that 
higher  knowledge  and  purer  love  to  be  unfolded 
in  maturer  years. 

And  as  the  child  advances  toward  maturity  and 
is  able  to  comprehend  more  and  more  of  true  hu- 
manity, the  Saviour's  character  in  its  higher  and 
holier  aspects,  unfolds  itself  to  him  with  ever  in- 
creasing fulness.    And  still  later,  when  the  bur- 


The  Central  Doetrine. 


55 


dens  and  sorrows  and  responsibilities  of  life  press 
heavily;  when  the  foes  of  his  own  spiritual  house- 
hold rise  up  in  their  strength  and  fierceness ;  when 
the  spheres  of  infernal  spirits  invade  and  darken 
his  moral  firmament,  shutting  out  the  light  of  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars ;  oh !  then  it  is  that  this 
knowledge  of  God  in  Christ — of  Divinity  in  or- 
ganic union  with  humanity — comes  to  him  with 
consoling  and  strengthening  power.  In  the  clear 
light  of  this  heavenly  doctrine  he  sees  that  there 
are  no.  abysses  to  which  his  soul  can  sink,  where 
.Christ  Himself  has  not  been  ;  no  darkness  which 
can  overshadow  him,  that  is  more  appalling  than 
that  known  to  Christ ;  no  states  of  temptation 
more  agonizing,  no  assaults  from  hell  more  fierce, 
than  those  which  Christ  experienced.  And  see- 
ing and  knowing  all  this,  and  realizing  that  in  and 
of  himself  he  has  no  power  to  resist  the  assaults 
of  infernal  spirits,  but  that  the  Divine  Humanity 
— the  eternal  and  almighty  Saviour — has  ''all 
power  in  heaven  and  on  earth,"  he  looks  to  Him, 
and  prays  to  Him,  and  confides  in  Him,  and  so 
(with  his  own  voluntary  co-operation)  receives 
from  Him  the  succor  that  he  needs. 

And  thus  through  all  our  journey  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  Divinity  in  organic  union 
with  humanity ;  God  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  God  invested  with  our  infirm  nature ; 
God  living  and  laboring  and  suffering  as  man 


56      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neiv  Church. 

among  men  ;  God  as  Enlightener,  Redeemer,  Re- 
generator and  Saviour, — the  very  embodiment  on 
earth  of  all  human  and  all  divine  excellence  ;  God 
in  a  form  approachable  and  comprehensible  by 
finite  minds ;  God  able  to  come  to  us  through  the 
medium  of  his  Divine  Humanity,  as  the  invisible 
soul  of  your  friend  comes  to  you  through  the 
medium  of  his  visible  body ;  and,  coming  in  this 
comprehensible  and  lovable  form,  able  also  to  en- 
lighten and  quicken  and  strengthen  us  by  his 
grace,  and  lead  us  upward  in  the  heavenly  paths ; 
— this  is  the  God  we  most  need  to  know.  This  ^ 
is  the  God  exactly  suited  to  our  condition,  ca- 
pacities and  spiritual  Tvants.  And  throughout  the 
eternal  Ages,  the  wondrous  wealth  of  his  redeem- 
ing love  will  continue  to  unfold  more  and  more  in 
accommodation  to  the  ever  advancing  states  of 
all  his  humble  followers. 

Such  is  the  belief  and  teaching  of  the  New 
Church  respecting  the  Central  Doctrine  of  the 
Christian  religion — the  true  and  only  proper  Ob- 
ject of  religious  worship.  Its  supreme  import- 
ance is  our  sufficient  excuse  and  justification  for 
dwelling  upon  it  at  considerable  length. 

''Lo!  this  is  our  God!  We  have  waited  for 
Him,  that  He  may  save  us.  This  is  the  Lord ; 
we  have  waited  for  Him  ;  we  will  be  glad  and  re- 
joice in  his  salvation."    (Isa.  xxv.  9.) 


The  Atonement. 


57 


III. — The  Atonement. 

Before  explaining  the  doctrine  of  the  New 
Church  on  this  subject,  it  may  be  expedient  to 
notice  briefly  the  Old  and  commonly  received 
doctrine.  The  reader  can  then  judge  which  of 
the  two  is  most  in  accordance  with  reason  and 
Scripture ; — which  bears  most  conspicuously  the 
impress  of  heaven,  and  which  looks  most  like  the 
offspring  of  man's  self-derived  intelligence. 

If  the  Old  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity — cor- 
rupted into  a  trinity  of  persons — is  erroneous,  it 
was  iiot  possible  for  the  other  leading  doctrines 
of  Christianity  to  escape  corruption  and  falsifica- 
tion from  an  error  so  fundamental.  And  the 
most  prominent  as  well  as  the  most  mischievous 
falsity,  because  the  most  captivating  and  delusive, 
is  that  concerning  the  Atonement  as  commonly 
held  and  taught.  This  doctrine,  we  are  aware, 
has  been  differently  understood  and  explained  at 
different  times,  and  by  different  persons  at  the 
same  time.  And,  notwithstanding  the  supreme 
importance  which  is  very  properly  attached  to 
a  right  understanding  of  it,  probably  not  many 
among  the  most  learned  of  the  "evangelical" 
school  at  this  time,  would  explain  this  doctrine  in 
precisely  or  even  substantially  the  same  way. 
However  this  may  be,  the  following  summary 


58      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neic  Church, 


statement  of  it  in  Buck's  Theological  Dictionary, 
said  to  have  been  drawn  from  distinguished  Trin- 
itarian writers  on  this  subject,  may  be  taken  as 
embodying  the  generally  received  view. 

"The  Atonement,"  say  these  writers,  "is  the 
satisfying  divine  justice  by  Jesus  Christ  giving 
Himself  a  ransom  for  us,  undergoing  the  penalty 
due  to  our  sins,  and  thereby  releasing  us  from 
that  punishment  which  God  might  justly  inflict 
upon  us.  All  mankind  having  broken  the  law, 
God  in  his  infinite  wisdom  did  not  think  fit  to 
pardon  sinful  man  without  some  compensation  for 
his  broken  law.  For  if  the  great  Ruler  of  the 
world  had  pardoned  the  sins  of  men  without  any 
satisfaction,  then  his  law^s  might  have  seemed  not 
worth  the  vindicating. 

"  Because  God  intended  to  make  a  full  display 
of  the  terrors  of  his  justice,  and  his  divine  re- 
sentment for  the  violation  of  his  law,  therefore 
He  appointed  his  own  Son  to  satisfy  for  the 
breach  of  it  by  becoming  a  proper  sacrifice  of  ex- 
piation or  atonement.  The  Divine  Being  having 
received  such  ample  satisfaction  for  sin,  by  the 
suffering  of  his  own  Son,  can  honorably  forgive 
his  creature  man  who  was  a  transgressor." 

And  if  any  one  desires  to  know  what  this  doc- 
trine is,  as  held  and  taught  at  the  present  day,  let 
him  turn  to  the  "  Confession  of  Faith  "  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  pub- 
lished in  1838.    He  will  there  find  these  words: 

"  Christ,  by  his  obedience  and  death,  did  fully 
discharge  the  debt  of  all  those  that  are  thus  jus- 


The  Atonement. 


59 


tified,  and  did  make  a  proper,  real,  and  full  satis- 
faction to  his  Father's  justice  in  their  behalf.  He 
was  given  by  the  Father  for  them,  and  his  obedi-' 
ence  and  satisfaction  accepted  in  their  steads 
(P.  55.) 

In  the  same  chapter  of  this  work  we  are  told 
that  God  justifies  sinners  by  impiding  the  obe- 
dience and  satisfaction  of  Christ  unto  them  " 
(§  1) ;  and  that  Faith  thus  receiving  and  resting 
on  Christ  and  his  righteousness,  is  the  alone  in- 
strument of  justification."  (§  2.)  In  other  parts 
of  the  same  work  we  find  mention  made  of  Christ 
having  borne  the  iveight  of  God^s  wrath,  satisfied 
his  justice,  procured  his  favor,  purchased  recon- 
ciliation, etc.    (See  pp.  44,  161,  168.) 

In  the  Catechism  (No.  2)  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  published  in  1839,  it  is  stated 
(p.  14)  that  "  Christ,  by  means  of  his  sufferings 
and  death,  offered  a  full  satisfaction  and  atone- 
ment to  Divine  Justice,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world."  And  immediately  after,  it  is  added  by 
way  of  explanation,  that,  "  because  He  was  per- 
fectly righteous,  there  was  an  infinite  value  and 
merit  in  his  death,  which,  being  undergone  for 
our  sakes  and  in  our  stead.  Almighty  God  exer- 
cises his  mercy  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  con- 
sistently with  his  justice  and  holiness." 

Such  is  the  commonly  received  doctrine  of  a 
vicarious  atonement,  as  given  in  the  words  of  its 


60      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


believers  and  advocates."^  And  it  will  be  found 
substantially  the  same  as  here  stated,  in  the  Cate- 
"chisms,  Creeds,  Formularies  and  Confessions  of 
Faith,  of  all  the  religious  sects  who  believe  in  the 
tripersonality  of  God.  Indeed,  this  doctrine,  as 
I  have  already  said,  is  a  legitimate  offspring  of 
the  tripersonal  theory.  And  according  to  the 
language  in  which  it  is  set  forth  by  its  advocates, 
it  represents  the  Father  or  first  person  in  the  • 
Trinity,  as  a  stern,  inflexible,  vindictive  God,  who 
is  angry  with  the  human  race  on  account  of  their 
transgressions,  and  will  by  no  means  forgive  them 
their  sins,  without  a  full  equivalent  or  satisfac- 
tion for  his  violated  law.  It  represents  the  Son 
or  second  person  in  the  Trinity,  as  a  tender  and 
compassionate  God,  who  is  moved  with  pity  to- 
wards the  human  race ;  and  in  order  to  satisfy 
the  Father's  demands,  and  procure  his  favor,  or 
purchase  for  man  a  release  from  his  veno-eance, 
He  comes  into  the  world  of  his  own  free  will,  and 
pays  the  penalty  due  to  the  sins  of  all  mankind 
by  suffering  and  dying  upon  the  cross.  The 
Father  accepts  the  ransom,  is  reconciled  towards 
the  human  race,  and  can  then  '^honorably  forgive 
his  creature  man ; "  or,  as  some  understand  it,  He 
then  imputes  to  mankind  the  merit  of  Christ's 


*  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  of  the  best  Christians  in 
nearly  all  the  churches  of  to  day,  utterly  reject  this  doctrine  as 
set  forth  in  their  own  creeds. 


The  Atonement. 


61 


sufferings  and  death,  or  feels  towards  our  race  as 
if  they  themselves  had  suffered  the  merited  pun- 
ishment. It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Atone- 
ment is  commonly  called  by  Christian  writers 
vicarious.  Christ,  they  say,  suffered  as  our  mcar 
or  substitute — suffered  in  our  stead — and,  by  his 
own  death,  paid  the  penalty  which  the  Father  de- 
manded for  his  violated  law.  In  this  way  He 
satisfied  the  demands  of  Divine  Justice,  and  pur- 
chased a  pardon  for  man,  or  propitiated  the  Deity. 

This  doctrine  needs  no  comment.  It  would 
seem  as  if  every  honest  man  and  woman  who  are 
not  willing  to  utterly  renounce  their  understand- 
ing in  matters  of  religion  and  accept  a  blind  faith, 
could  hardly  fail  to  perceive  that  such  a  doctrine 
must  be  false  the  moment  they  hear  it  stated. 
Yet  no  other  doctrine  is  clung  to  with  such  blind 
and  inveterate  obstinacy  as  this — for  the  reason, 
doubtless,  that  no  other  promises  the  sinner  sal- 
vation on  such  easy  terms. 

The  New  Doctrine  of  Atonement. 

What,  now,  is  the  New  Church  doctrine  on  this 
subject  ?  It  is  not  easy  to  present  it  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  will  be  readily  apprehended  by  the 
natural  man.  For  until  we  have  had  some  ex- 
perience of  the  Atonement — until  our  natural  has, 
to  some  extent,  been  brought  under  subjection 
and  into  agreement  or  oneness  with  our  spiritual 
6 


62      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

man,  which  takes  place  only  as  we  become  regen- 
erated, we  need  not  expect  to  understand  much 
about  the  at-one-ment  of  the  Divine  with  the  Hu- 
man in  Jesus  Christ. 

It  must  be  plain  to  every  one  that  the  Old  doc- 
trine on  this  subject  is  based  upon,  and  grows 
legitimately  out  of,  the  doctrine  of  three  Divine 
Persons.  It  is  wholly  incompatible  with  the  doc- 
trine of  God's  personal  unity,  and  cannot  stand 
for  a  moment  when  this  is  admitted.  For  when 
it  is  seen  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  one 
and  only  Divine  Person  in  whom  "dwells  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead,"  then  there  is  no  first 
Person  apart  from  Him  to  demand  satisfaction  for 
his  violated  law ;  no  one  whose  wrath  is  to  be 
appeased  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of  another, 
or  to  whom  the  penalty  due  to  man's  transgres- 
sions is  to  be  paid.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the 
Old  doctrine  on  this  subject  does  by  no  means  con- 
sist with  the  Xew  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  (see  p. 
33),  nor  with  the  supreme  and  absolute  divinity 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

According  to  the  belief  and  teaching  of  the  Xew 
Church,  man  was  originally  created  in  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God.  His  understanding  was 
created  to  be  an  image  and  so  a  finite  receptacle 
of  the  Divine  Wisdom,  and  his  will  to  be  a  like- 
ness and  hence  a  finite  receptacle  of  the  Divine 
Love  ;  and  from  the  union  of  these  two  (love  and 


The  Atonement 


63 


wisdom  or  good  and  truth)  in  his  mind,  there  pro- 
ceeded from  him  a  sphere  of  beneficent  life  and  ac- 
tion, imaging  in  a  finite  degree  the  Divine  Pro- 
ceeding, or  the  sphere  of  the  Divine  Beneficence. 
Man  did  not  then  receive  truth  separate  or  dis- 
joined from  its  corresponding  affection  of  good- 
ness ;  but  his  will  was  in  perfect  agreement  with 
his  understanding,  and  his  works  were  therefore 
all  good.  Thus  he  was  in  a  state  of  spiritual 
agreement  or  conjunction  with  God,  uniting  in 
himself  each  element,  and  therefore  being  a  finite 
image,  of  the  Divine  Trinity.  Accordingly  he  is 
represented,  in  the  symbolic  language  of  Scrip- 
ture, as  being  originally  placed  "  in  the  garden  of 
Eden,"  for  his  innocent  and  blissful  state  is  just 
what  such  a  garden  corresponds  to  or  symbolizes. 
But  he  did  not  continue  in  that  blissful  state. 
Through  an  abuse  of  the  human  faculties  with 
which  he  was  gifted,  and  without  which  he  would 
not  have  been  man,  he  gradually  came  to  think 
his  wisdom  and  goodness  his  own,  and  to  be  puffed 
up  with  pride  on  account  of  them.  And  so  from 
loving  and  worshiping  God,  he  came  at  last  to 
love  and  worship  himself.  From  being  a  true,  he 
came  to  be  a  false  and  inverted,  image  of  the  Cre- 
ator. From  his  Eden  state  of  supreme  love 
God,  he  fell  into  a  state  of  supreme  self-love  whi 
is  infernal — the  very  opposite  of  that  in  which  he 
was  originally  created.    His  whole  moral  nature 


64      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


became  deranged — diseased  from  the  sole  of  the 
foot,  even  unto  the  head."  Thus  he  became  alien- 
ated— spiritually  separated  and  far  removed — 
from  his  Maker ;  and  therefore  he  is  said,  in  the 
symbolic  language  of  Scripture,  to  have  been 
driven  out  of  the  Garden  wherein  his  Creator 
originally  placed  him. 

But  God  was  not  angry  with  man  for  this, 
neither  did  He  forsake  him.  On  the  contrary,  He 
pursued  him  with  infinite  love  and  compassion. 
He  came  into  the  ultimates  of  nature ;  became 
Himself  a  man ;  assumed  our  frail  and  fallen  na- 
ture with  all  its  evil  tendencies  and  corrupt  incli- 
nations; and  this,  in  order  that  He  might  over- 
come these  inclinations,  restore  the  order  that  man 
himself  had  disturbed,  and  bring  him  back  into  his 
original  state  of  blissful  conjunction  with  Himself ; 
for  in  this  state  only  could  man  find  peace  and 
rest.  And  this  great  work  He  accomplished  by 
means  of  successive  combats  with  and  victories 
over  the  evil  spirits  that  infested  humanity.  These 
combats  and  victories  took  place  in  the  humanity 
that  He  assumed,  and  could  not  have  taken  place 
out  of  it,  nor  without  its  assumption.  Hence  the 
necessity  of  the  Divine  Incarnation.  And  by  the 
same  acts  which  were  his  temptations,  the  last  of 
which  was  the  passion  of  the  cross,  He  united,  in 
his  assumed  humanity,  Divine  Love  and  Divine 
Wisdom,  and  so  made  that  humanity  itself  Divine. 


The  Atonement 


65 


That  is,  He  glorified  the  humanity ;  or,  in  other 
words,  exalted  it  to  a  perfect  union  with  the  Di- 
vinity that  was  in  Him  from  conception. 

While  in  the  flesh,  our  Lord  had  both  a  human 
and  a  divine  nature,  just  as  every  man  has  an  ex- 
ternal and  an  internal,  or  what  is  sometimes  called 
a  lower  and  a  higher  nature.  As  to  the  external 
human  which  He  derived  from  the  mother.  He 
was  frail,  finite,  prone  to  evil,  and  therefore  liable 
to  temptation  like  any  other  man ;  but  as  to  his 
internal.  He  was  Jehovah  God — infinite,  perfect, 
divine,  incapable  of  being  tempted.  By  his  own 
divine  power,  He  gradually  overcame  the  evil  ap- 
pertaining to  his  assumed  humanity  ;  completely 
eradicated  all  its  selfish  and  evil  proclivities  ;  con- 
quered all  the  hells ;  put  off  all  that  was  frail  and 
finite,  and  brought  down  into  every  region  of  that 
humanity  his  own  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom,  and 
so  brought  it  at-one  with  the  essential  and  in- 
dwelling Divinity. 

This  is  what  is  understood  in  the  New  Church 
by  the  Atonement,  or  At-one-ment  (as  the  word  was 
originally  syllabled  and  pronounced) — a  bringing 
at-one  of  the  human  and  the  Divine,  or  as  the 
Apostle  says,  "making  in  Himself,  of  twain,  one 
new  man."  And  the  purpose  of  this  At-one-ment 
was,  that  the  Lord  might  ever  after  be  able  to 
bring  our  external  or  natural  at-one  with  our 
internal  or  spiritual  man — goodness  at-one  with 
6*  E 


66      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

truth  in  our  minds — and  so  bring  us  into  com- 
plete spiritual  union  or  at-one-ment  with  Himself. 
When  this  is  effected  we  are  reconciled  to  God ; 
no  longer  alienated,  but  at-one  with  Him.  Hence 
we  read  "  that  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the 
world  unto  Himself." 

We  know  that  the  Saviour  when  on  earth  en- 
dured temptations  ;  for  these  are  often  referred  to 
in  the  New  Testament.  But  how  could  He  have 
been  tempted,  unless  there  had  been  in  Him  some 
propensity  to  evil  ?  Absolute  Divinity  cannot  be 
tempted.  And  that  there  was  some  such  evil  pro- 
clivity in  Him,  is  plain  from  his  own  declaration: 
"And  for  their  sakes  /  sanctify  myself,  that  they 
also  might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth  " — lan- 
guage which  shows  that  there  was  something  in 
Him  that  needed  to  be  sanctified. 

But  although  the  Lord  as  to  his  maternal 
humanity,  was  full  of  hereditary  tendencies  to 
evil  like  other  men,  yet  He  never  ultimated  any 
of  those  tendencies ;  He  never  made  the  evil  his 
own  by  actual  life.  Herein  He  was  different  from 
all  other  men.  Therefore  He  knew  no  sin  for 
sin  consists,  not  in  having  inclinations  to  evil,  but 
in  acting  from  them,  and  so  making  them  our  own. 
This  agrees  with  the  teaching  of  the  Apostle,  who 
says:  ''He  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we 
are,  yet  without  sin." 


The  Atonement 


67 


Its  Importance  Practically  Viewed, 

From  this  brief  explanation  of  the  New  Church 
doctrine  of  At-one-ment,  the  reader  cannot'  fail  to 
see  that,  while  it  accords  with  the  teachings  of 
both  reason  and  Scripture,  it  is  at  the  same  time 
a  doctrine  of  the  highest  practical  moment.  For 
as  man  was  originally  created  in  the  image  of 
God,  so  he  must  now  be  re-created  after  the  im- 
age of  Christ's  glorification.  Hence  we  are  re- 
quired to  "  follow  Him  in  the  regeneration."  He 
is  "  THE  WAY ;"  and  before  we  can  folloiu  Him,  we 
need  to  know  the  way.  There  must  be  a  descent 
or  birth  of  truth  in  our  minds  corresponding  to 
the  Lord's  birth  into  the  natural  world  :  For 
He  came  as  the  Divine  Truth.  "  The  Word  was 
made  flesh."  And  we  must  then  endure  tempta- 
tions as  He  did ;  for  He  says  to  his  followers : 
"Ye  are  they  who  have  continued  with  me  in 
my  temptations ;  and  I  appoint  unto  you  a  king- 
dom," etc.  (Luke  xxii.  28.)  By  means  of  truth 
from  the  Word,  which  is  "  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,"  we  must  fight  against  and  overcome 
the  evils  of  our  natural  man,  as  He  fought 
against  and  overcame  the  evils  of  his  maternal 
humanity  ;  for  He  says :  "  To  him  that  overcom- 
eth  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  even 
as  I  also  overcame  and  am  set  down  with  my 
Father  in  his  throne."  (Rev.  iii.  2L)   Thus  we 


68      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


are  sanctified  "  through  the  truth  "  as  He  was. 
And  this  is  what  is  meant  by  being  washed; 
cleansed,  redeemed,  and  saved  by  the  blood  of 
Christ ;  for  by  His  blood,  in  the  spiritual  sense, 
is  meant  the  divine  truth  of  the  Word.  This  is 
that  "blood  of  the  new  covenant  which  is  shed 
for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins" — "the  blood 
of  Christ  that  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 

When  thus  we  take  up  our  cross  and  follow  the 
Lord — when  we  do  the  truth  which  we  understand 
by  shunning  as  a  sin  whatever  evil  the  truth  for- 
bids, then  truth  is  brought  at-one  with  goodness 
in  our  minds,  as  the  Divine  Wisdom  was  brought 
at-one  with  Divine  Love  in  the  Lord's  assumed 
humanity.  Then  our  external  is  brought  at-one 
with  our  internal,  our  natural  at-one  with  our 
spiritual  man,  our  lower  at-one  with  our  higher 
nature,  as  the  Lord's  assumed  human  was  brought 
at-one  with  the  Divine.  And  so,  as  the  Apos- 
tle says,  we  '^receive  the  at-one-ment  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  That  is,  we  receive  that  pure 
and  unselfish  love  which  is  forever  at-one — forever 
in  marriage  union — with  the  divine  truth;  and 
thus  our  hearts  are  brought  at-one  with  the  only 
Lord  and  Saviour. 

We  thus  see  that  the  doctrine  of  the  At-one- 
ment,  as  held  and  taught  in  the  New  Church,  is 
one  of  high  practical  moment.  It  involves  the 
entire  doctrine  of  man's  regeneration. 


Sin:  its  Nature, 


69 


TV. — Six:  Its  Nature. 

According  to  the  teachings  of  Swedenborg,  a 
broad  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  heredi- 
tary or  transmitted  evil,  and  sin.  Every  one,  he 
says,  inherits  from  foregone  ancestry  certain  pro- 
pensities of  greater  or  less  degrees  of  strength, 
which  incline  him  to  seek  his  own  ease,  pleasure, 
profit  or  personal  gratification,  regardless  of  the 
wishes,  rights,  profit  or  welfare  of  others.  He 
insists  that  the  merely  natural  man  is  supremely 
selfish.  But  we  are  not  sinners  because  of  this 
natural  selfishness,  or  these  inherited  proclivities 
to  evil.  Sin,  he  says,  consists  in  the  conscious 
violation  of  some  acknowledged  law  or  rule  of 
right — in  acting  contrary  to  some  known  moral 
precept,  or  some  perceived  and  acknowledged 
moral  obligation. 

A  man  may  inherit  a  strong  propensity  to  lie 
or  steal ;  but  he  is  not  a  sinner  because  of  this 
inheritance,  any  more  than  he  is  a  liar  or  a  thief 
before  he  commits  these  offences.  He  sins  only 
when  he  ultimates  this  evil  propensity,  and  actu- 
ally lies  or  steals,  knowing  that  to  do  so  is  to  act 
contrary  to  a  divine  command.  The  propensity 
may  be  very  strong  in  him  ;  but  if  he  regards  its 
indulgence  as  wicked — as  something  contrary  to 
the  will  and  Word  of  God — and  therefore  shuns 


70      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


it,  he  does  not  sin.  We  sin  only  when  we  do  evil, 
with  the  knowledge  at  the  time  that  it  is  evil. 
The  selfish  or  evil  desire  may  be  very  strong  in 
us ;  but  if  we  regard  and  shun  its  indulgence  as 
a  sin,  we  are  then  free  from  guilt ; — free  from  sin, 
though  the  evil  inclination  may  still  remain. 

And  not  only  so,  but  by  continuing  to  do  this, 
and  at  the  same  time  acknowledging  that  it  is  the 
Lord  alone  who  gives  us  the  disposition  and  the 
power  to  resist  the  vicious  propensity,  we  gradu- 
ally weaken  and  overcome  the  evil  inclination, 
and  lose,  at  last,  all  desire  to  transgress.  And  in 
this  consists  the  great  work  of  regeneration.  It 
is  that  thorough  mastery  over  all  inherited  vicious 
proclivities,  which  the  Lord  gives  to  every  one  who 
acknowledges  Him  and  humbly  strives  to  obey  his 
precepts. 

Y. — Remission  of  Sins. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  nature  of  sin,  is 
the  doctrine  concerning  its  remission.  The  pre- 
vailing idea  among  Christians  a  hundred  years 
ago, — nor  has  it  become  quite  obsolete  yet, — re- 
specting the  Divine  forgiveness  or  remission  of 
sins,  was  altogether  erroneous.  It  was  believed 
that  sins  could  be  forgiven  and  the  sinning  soul 
cleansed  of  its  defilements  by  an  act  of  immediate 
Divine  mercy,  or  through  the  willingness  of  God 


Remission  of  Sins. 


71 


to  exercise  forgiveness — as  natural  filth  may  be 
washed  off  from  the  body ;  and  that  this  could  be 
effected  instantaneously,  and  is  actually  granted 
in  a  moment  as  the  reward  of  the  exercise  of 
faith  alone. 

But  Swedenborg  teaches  (or  shows  us  that  the 
Scripture  teaches)  and  the  New  Church  believes, 
a  very  different  doctrine.  He  says  that  the  Divine 
Love  which  is  Mercy  itself,  is  the  very  essence  of 
forgiveness;  and  that  this  Love  is  ever  ready  and 
waiting  to  flow  into  human  hearts  with  its  inef- 
fable sweetness  and  delights ;  but  that  it  can  flow 
in  and  be  received  only  in  the  degree  that  we 
come  to  see  our  evils  in  the  light  of  truth,  hum- 
bly acknowledg-e  them,  and  shun  their  indulgence 
as  sins  against  God.  As  we  do  this,  the  evil  of 
self-love  which  is  the  fountain  of  all  other  evil 
loves  and  the  progenitor  and  instigator  of  all  evil 
deeds,  is  overcome  or  removed,  and  the  good  of 
disinterested  neighborly  love  flows  in,  and  with 
it  a  sweet  and  heavenly  peace — a  sense  of  the 
Divine  presence  which  is  essential  Love  and  For- 
giveness. So  that  the  Divine  forgiveness  is  not 
and  cannot  be  experienced,  except  on  condition  of 
repentance  and  obedience — a  voluntary  turning 
away  from  moral  evil,  and  yielding  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  heavenly  charity; — a  gradual  losing, 
through  self-denial  and  self-surrender,  of  our  own 
life  for  the  Lord's  sake,  and  the  consequent  recep- 


72      The  Doctrines  of  the  Neic  Church. 


tion  OT  finding  of  that  true  and  higher  life  which 
is  from  Above,  and  is  promised  to  the  regenerate. 
Accordingly  Swedenborg  says : 

"It  is  believed  by  most  people  within  the 
church  that  the  remission  of  sins  is  the  wiping  or 
washing  them  away  as  of  filth  by  water ;  and 
that  after  remission  they  are  clean  and  pure  in  the 
way  in  which  they  go.  Such  an  opinion  prevails, 
especially  with  those  who  ascribe  the  all  of  salva- 
tion to  faith  alone. 

"  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  case  is  quite 
otherwise  with  the  remission  of  sins.  The  Lord 
remits  sins  to  every  one,  since  He  is  Mercy  itself; 
nevertheless  they  are  not  remitted  on  that  account, 
unless  a  man  performs  serious  repentance,  desists 
from  evils,  and  afterwards  lives  the  life  of  faith 
and  charity,  and  this  even  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
When  this  is  done  the  man  receives  from  the  Lord 
spiritual  life  which  is  called  new  life ;  and  when 
he  looks  from  this  new  life  at  the  evils  of  his 
former  life  and  holds  them  in  aversion  and  horror, 
then  sins  are  first  remitted ;  for  then  the  man  is 
kept  in  truths  and  goods,  and  withheld  from  evils 
by  the  Lord.  Hence  it  is  evident  what  is  meant 
by  the  remission  of  sins,  and  that  it  cannot  be 
granted  in  an  hour  nor  in  a  year."  (A.  C.  9014. 
See  also  A.  C.  9443-9454.) 

YI. — Redemption. 

The  verb  redeem,  horn  which  comes  the  noun 
redemption,  is  derived  from  the  Latin  words  re. 


Redemption. 


73 


again,  back,  and  emere,  to  buy ;  and  means,  there- 
fore, according  to  Webster,  "to  purchase  back" — 
"  to  ransom,  liberate,  or  rescue  from  captivity  or 
bondage,  or  from  any  obligation  or  liability  to 
suffer,  by  paying  an  equivalent; — as,  to  redeem  a 
captive,"  etc.  Persons  captured  in  war  and  held 
in  captivity,  are  said  to  be  redeemed  when  the 
price  demanded  for  their  release  is  paid,  and  they 
are  set  at  liberty.  This  is  the  common  and  literal 
meaning  of  the  word. 

And  up  to  the  time  when  Swedenborg  wrote 
(and  the  creeds  have  not  changed  much  since)  the 
prevailing  belief  among  Christians  was,  that  Jesus 
Christ,  by  his  sufferings  and  death,  paid  the  pen- 
alty due  to  man's  transgressions,  and  thus  ran- 
somed or  released  believers  from  their  state  of 
bondage  to  sin  and  Satan.  This  has  been  and  is 
still  the  prevailing  idea  of  the  divine  work  wrought 
by  Jesus  Christ.    An  eminent  authority  says : 

"  Jesus  Christ  gave  Himself  a  ransom  for  us^ 
undergoing  the  penalty  due  to  our  sins,  and  there- 
by releasing  us  from  that  punishment  which  God 
might  justly  inflict  upon  us." — Buck^s  Theological 
Dictionary. 

The  "  Presbyterian  Confession  of  Faith  "  for 
the  United  States  (1838)  says: 

"Christ,  by  his  obedience  and  death,  did  fully 
discharge  the  debt  of  all  those  that  are  thus  jus- 
tifed,  and  did  make  a  proper,  real  and  full  satis- 
faction to  his  Fathei^^s  justice  in  their  ijehalf." 
7 


74      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

And  the  Catechism  (1839)  for  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  says : 

Christ,  by  means  of  his  sufferings  and  death, 
offered  a  full  satisfaction  .  .  .  to  Divine  Jus- 
tice for  the  sins  of  the  world.''^  And  the  reason 
assigned  is:  ''Because  He  was  perfectly  righteous, 
there  was  an  infinite  value  and  merit  in  his  death 
which  was  undergone  for  our  sakes  and  in  our 
stead.^^ 

And  so  generally  accepted  has  been,  and  is  still, 
this  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  great  work  of  human 
redemption,  that  w^e  find  the  theological  meaning 
of  the  word  redemption,  as  given  by  a  great 
American  lexicographer,  to  be :  "  The  procuring 
of  God's  favor  by  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ." 

The  Old  doctrine,  then,  on  this  subject  is:  That 
the  human  race,  being  in  a  state  of  captivity  to 
sin  and  Satan,  w^as  ransomed — bought  off — re- 
leased from  its  bondage,  and  consequently  from 
hell  and  its  miseries,  by  the  payment  of  an  infinite 
price,  to  wit,  the  voluntary  sujfferings  and  death 
of  the  Son  of  God  (the  second  person  in  the  Di- 
vine Trinity) :  Precisely  as  a  slave  may  sometimes 
be  released  from  bondage  or  a  prisoner  from  his 
confinement,  by  the  payment  of  a  stipulated  price. 

Now  it  needs  but  a  little  exercise  of  one's  reason 
and  understanding  to  see  what  absurdities,  incon- 
sistencies and  contradictions  this  doctrine  involves. 


Redemption. 


75 


1.  It  is  a  doctrine  of  pure  naturalism,  and  one 
that  chimes  in  with  the  gross  conceptions  of  the 
natural  man.  2.  It  involves  the  idea  of  two 
Divine  Beings,  very  different  in  disposition  and 
character ; — one,  inflexible  and  unrelenting,  the 
other,  all  tenderness  and  compassion,  willing  to 
suffer  the  extremest  agonies  for  the  benefit  of  his 
creatures.  3.  It  is  inconsistent  with  itself.  For 
in  cases  of  natural  redemption  the  price  must  be 
paid  to  him  who  holds  the  captive  in  his  power. 
If  (as  the  doctrine  admits)  mankind  was  in  bond- 
age to  Satan,  then  the  price  of  redemption  was 
due  to  him,  and  not  to  God  the  Father  as  the  doc- 
trine teaches.  4.  It  mars  the  beauty  and  perfec- 
tion of  God's  character,  representing  Him  as  a 
monster  of  injustice  and  cruelty.  For  what  could 
be  more  unjust  or  cruel  than  to  release  sinners 
from  the  penalty  due  to  their  transgressions,  and 
accept  the. sufferings  of  a  perfectly  innocent  being 
as  the  price  of  their  redemption  ?  5.  And,  finally, 
it  involves  an  utter  misconception  of  the  nature 
of  moral  or  spiritual  evil,  and  the  way  of  escape 
from  it. 

No :  The  Old  doctrine  of  redemption  will  not 
stand  the  test  of  a  rational  examination.  The 
closer  it  is  scanned,  the  more  unreasonable  and 
hideous  it  appears ;  and  the  more  certain  we  are 
that  it  is  a  doctrine  which  men  in  a  low  state  of 
mind  have  invented,  or  have  drawn  from  the  Bible 


76      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


only  by  putting  upon  it  a  natural  and  sensuous 
interpretation.  For  it  is  as  contrary  to  the  general 
spirit  and  teaching  of  Scripture,  as  it  is  to  the  dic- 
tates of  enlightened  reason. 

The  New  Doctrine. 

Turn  now  to  the  doctrine  on  this  subject  as 
revealed  for  the  New  Church.  Of  course  in  a 
treatise  like  the  present,  we  can  do  little  more 
than  exhibit  it  in  a  general  way — as  it  were,  in 
brief  outline. 

The  end  for  which  God  created  man,  according 
to  the  belief  and  teaching  of  the  Xew  Church, 
was,  that  there  might  be  a  heaven  of  angels  from 
the  human  race — a  countless  host  of  rational,  wise 
and  loving  creatures,  images  and  likenesses  of 
Himself,  capable  of  receiving  his  own  life,  and 
of  being  made  unspeakably  and  eternally  happy 
in  the  mutual  and  reciprocal  impartation  of  that 
life.  And  can  we  conceive  of  a  more  sublime  or 
beneficent  purpose,  or  one  more  worthy  of  a  Being 
of  infinite  wisdom  and  love  ? 

But  it  was  indispensable  to  this  state  of  highest 
human  bliss,  that  man  should  have  a  selfhood  as 
the  basis  of  his  individuality,  and  should  be  gifted 
with  rationality  and  liberty.  Without  these  fac- 
ulties he  would  not  have  been  human,  nor  capable 
of  heavenly  blessedness. 

But  these  sublime  endowments  which  are  man's 


Redemption, 


77 


chief  glory,  and  are,  indeed,  essential  to  his  hu- 
manity, rendered  possible  his  lapse  into  a  state 
of  spiritual  disorder,  degradation  and  woe.  Nay, 
with  beings  so  endowed,  such  lapse  was  not  only 
possible  but  highly  probable — a  result  almost  cer- 
tain to  follow  from  such  gifts.  However  that  may 
be,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  such  spiritual  lapse  did 
occur.  In  the  course  of  many  generations  the  race 
became  completely  immersed  in  selfishness  and  sin. 
They  lost  all  knowledge  of  the  true  and  only  God, 
of  the  laws  and  capabilities  of  their  own  souls ; 
and  consequently  lost  sight  of  the  way  that  leads 
to  that  exalted  and  blissful  state  for  which  they 
were  designed.  From  a  state  of  mutual  love, 
they  fell  into  one  of  mutual  hostility.  They 
turned  the  light  that  was  originally  in  them 
into  darkness — God's  love  into  hatred — -just  as 
the  henbane  and  fox-glove  convert  the  sun's  light 
and  heat  and  the  sweet  dews  of  the  morning  into 
malignant  poisons.  God's  life  in  men  thus  be- 
came changed  into  its  opposite — into  the  life  of 
hell.  The  race  became  supremely  selfish ;  their 
souls  filled  with  all  base  passions  and  malignant 
feelings.  And  in  this  state  they  passed  into  the 
spiritual  world,  then  as  now  taking  their  own 
characters  or  ruling  loves  along  with  them.  Of 
course  they  were  separated  from  the  denizens  of 
heaven  through  the  operation  of  the  great  law 
of  spiritual  affinity — the  law  that  forever  tends 
7* 


78      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

to  draw  together  those  of  like  character,  and  to 
separate  those  who  are  unlike. 

In  this  way  there  came  at  length  to  be  an  im- 
mense multitude  of  evil  spirits  in  the  other  world 
— in  short,  a  hell  of  devils.  And  the  race  once 
fairly  started  on  its  downward  course,  like  a 
young  man  who  has  once  broken  the  bonds  of 
conscience  and  moral  restraint — has  begun  to  lie, 
swear,  cheat  and  gamble — sunk  rapidly  lower  and 
lower  into  the  abyss  of  darkness  and  woe.  Thus 
the  hells  increased  more  rapidly  than  the  heavens ; 
and  at  last  they  became  so  multitudinous,  so  gigan- 
tic in  strength  and  overmastering  in  their  power, 
that  their  disorderly  and  malignant  sphere  threat- 
ened to  deprive  the  human  race  of  liberty  and 
rationality ;  began  to  infest  the  bodies  as  well 
as  the  souls  of  men,  and  even  threatened  the  sta- 
bility of  the  heaven  of  angels. 

Here,  then,  was  a  great  crisis  in  the  moral 
universe.  The  human  race  was  about  to  perish. 
Man's  freedom  and  rationality  were  about  to  be 
destroyed  through  the  preponderating  influence 
of  the  hells.  It  is  easy  to  understand  this,  if  we 
reflect  for  a  moment  on  the  degrading  and  corrupt- 
ing influence  of  drunkenness,  profanity  and  licen- 
tiousness in  a  community  where  these  vices  have 
become  extensively  prevalent,  and  consider  also 
the  intimate  connection  between  spirits  in  the 
other  world  and  men  in  this.    And  the  Bible 


Redemption. 


79 


affords  abundant  testimony  to  the  fact  of  such 
connection.* 

This  was  "the  fulness  of  time."  It  was  the 
point  beyond  which  the  malign  influence  of  the 
hells  could  not  be  permitted  to  go  ; — beyond  which 
they  could  not  go  without  imperiling  the  welfare 
and  even  the  existence  of  the  human  race.  What, 
then,  was  to  be  done  to  avert  this  peril  ?  Reve- 
lations had  been  vouchsafed,  but  these  had  been 
misunderstood  and  perverted.  God  had  spoken, 
but  the  race  had  become  deaf  to  his  warnings  and 
counsels.  He  had  sent  prophets  and  wise  men,  but 
their  words  were  not  heeded.  Through  the  over- 
mastering influence  of  the  hells,  the  love  and  even 
the  knowledge  of  righteousness  had  been  lost,  and 
the  race  was  on  the  point  of  losing  also  its  prop- 
erly human  faculties — its  power  to  distinguish  and 
its  ability  to  choose  between  right  and  wrong. 

At  such  a  juncture,  what  should  an  infinitely 
wise  and  loving  Father  have  done  ?  What,  but 
the  very  thing  that  He  did  do  ?  The  work  to  be 
accomplished  was  something  more  than  suppres-  . 
sing  the  insurrection  of  a  single  wicked  community, 
state  or  nation.  It  was  nothing  less  than  restoring 
the  disturbed  equilibrium  of  the  moral  universe ; 
resisting  and  restraining  within  due  bounds  the 

*  For  some  of  this  testimony,  see  "  The  World  Beyond,"  by 
Eev.  John  Doughty  (forming  No.  1  of  the  present  series),  Chap.  V., 
on  Heaven. 

/ 


80      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

combined  armies  of  hell ;  overcoming  the  gigan- 
tic power  of  legions  of  devils ;  antagonizing  and 
driving  back  the  malign  influence  of  falsity  and 
evil  which  invaded  the  souls  of  men,  and  threat- 
ened to  destroy  their  power  of  discerning  and  their 
liberty  of  choosing  between  good  and  evil. 

And  surely  no  finite,  human,  or  merely  dele- 
gated power  was  adequate  to  a  work  like  this. 
Nothing  less  than  the  arm  of  Omnipotence  was 
equal  to  such  a  task.  "  Therefore,"  as  saith  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  his  own  arm  brought  salvation 
unto  Him,  and  his  righteousness,  it  sustained 
Him."  The  Heavenly  Father,  forever  watchful 
over  the  welfare  of  his  children,  veiled  Himself 
with  our  infirm  humanity  borne  down  witli  its 
accumulated  weight  of  evil ;  for  in  what  other 
conceivable  way  could  He  have  met  and  over- 
come the  influence  of  the  hells,  but  by  placing 
Himself  in  a  condition  to  be  approached  and 
assailed  by  them  ?  He  must  descend  to  the 
devils^  place  of  sojourn — to  the  citadel  which 
they  had  invested  and  whose  ruin  the}^  threat- 
ened. Spiritually  regarded,  the  human  race  were 
enslaved — were  in  bondage  to  infernal  spirits ;  and 
the  Lord  assumed  humanity  for  the  purpose  of 
releasing  them  from  that  bondage.  He  came 
to  break  their  fetters  and  ''let  the  oppressed 
go  free."  The  redemption  He  wrought  was 
purely  spiritual.    It  was  a  redemption  from  the 


Redemption, 


81 


overmastering  power  of  the  hells,  and  the  con- 
sequent restoration  to  mankind  of  their  original 
freedom  to  think  and  will  as  of  themselves;  the 
restoration  of  their  ability  to  see  or  think  what 
is  true,  and  fheir  freedom  to  will  and  do  what 
thev  see  to  be  right. 

Thus  redemption  is  seen  to  be  purely  God's 
own  work.  It  is  not  salvation,  for  this  requires 
the  co-operation  of  man  ;  yet  without  the  redemp- 
tion wrought  by  God  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  no  one  henceforward  could  have  been 
saved. 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  Xew  Church  doctrine  of 
redemption.  It  does  not  mar  but  illustrates  the 
exceeding  beauty  and  loveliness  of  the  Divine 
character.  It  does  not  require  for  its  acceptance 
the  surrender  or  abnegation  of  our  reason,  but  is 
quite  in  harmony  with  all  its  requirements.  It 
will  be  found  also,  on  careful  examination,  to  be 
in  perfect  agreement  with  the  whole  spirit  and 
tenor  of  Holy  Scripture.  The  Bible  reveals  God 
as  a  merciful  and  loving  Father ;  as  becoming  in- 
carnate for  human  redemption — coming  into  the 
world  and  enduring  the  assaults  of  infernals  for 
the  purpose  of  releasing  men  from  their  spiritual 
thraldom,  and  making  them  truly  free.  If  the 
Son,  therefore,  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed."  The  new  doctrine  also  is  in  har- 
mony with,  while  it  helps  us  to  understand  tlie 
F 


82      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


meaning  of,  many  passages  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  speak  of  demoniacal  possession,  and 
of  Christ's  casting  out  the  devils  by  his  word.  (See 
Matt.  viii.  16,  31  ;  ix.  32,  33;  xii.  28;  xvii.  18,  19; 
Mark  i.  34 ;  ix.  25,  26 ;  xvi.  9 ;  Luke  iv.  35  ;  xi. 
20;  xiii.  32.)  The  evil  spirits  could  not — they 
never  can — endure  the  Divine  sphere.  The  light 
and  warmth  of  the  spiritual  Sun  are  painful  to 
them,  and  they  flee  from  it.  (See  Mark  i.  23-26  ; 
Luke  iv.  33-35.)  And  this  shows  us  how  the 
Lord,  by  his  advent  in  the  flesh,  restored  the 
equilibrium  between  heaven  and  hell,  by  so  resist- 
ing and  keeping  within  due  bounds  the  sphere  of 
the  latter,  as  to  maintain  man's  freedom  and 
rationality  unimpaired. 

Redemption,  then,  according  to  the  New  The- 
ology, was  a  purely  divine  work,  wrought  by 
God  himself  in  the  spiritual  realm.  It  consisted 
in  overcoming  the  gigantic  power  and  threatened 
preponderance  of  the  hells,  by  bringing  the  Di- 
vine life  nearer  to  them — bringing  it  down  through 
the  humanity  assumed,  and  thus  conquering  them, 
or  compelling  their  retreat,  as  creatures  of  the 
night  are  compelled  to  retire  to  their  dens  when 
the  light  of  day  appears.  And  the  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther himself,  and  not  any  second  person  in  the 
Trinity,  is  declared  to  be  the  Redeemer. 

And  the  effect  of  the  redemption  wrought  by 
God  in  Christ,  was  to  preserve  mankind  in  a  state 


Salvation. 


83 


of  mental  and  moral  freedom ;  so  that,  "  being 
delivered  from  the  hands  of  our  enemies,  we  may 
[if  we  choose]  serve  Him  without  fear."  This  is 
what  it  has  actually  accomplished  for  the  human 
race  :  it  has  overcome  the  influence  of  hell  to  such 
a  degree,  that  men  need  not  now  be  its  slaves  un- 
less they  freely  choose  such  bondage.  Through 
the  redemption  that  has  been  wrought,  mankind 
are  now  able  to  understand  the  will  of  God,  or 
the  truth  that  reveals  his  will  to  them,  and  are 
free  to  serve  Him  if  they  choose — free  to  make 
their  own  election.  This  redemption  does  not 
confer  or  insure  salvation,  but  simply  places  it 
within  every  one's  reach,  and  leaves  him  free  to 
choose  and  able  to  act  according  to  his  choice. 


y  II . — Sal  va  tion. 

The  prevailing  belief  among  Christians  respect- 
ing salvation  at  the  time  Swedenborg  wrote,  was, 
that  it  is  deliverance  from  hell  and  its  miseries, 
and  the  qualification  for  heaven  and  its  joys;  that 
this  deliverance  and  qualification  for  heaven  may 
take  place  suddenly — in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye ; 
that  it  is  wrought  by  an  act  of  immediate  Divine 
mercy,  and  without  any  regard  to  the  inner  life 
or  character  of  its  subjects — provided  they  have 
faith. 


84      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

With  this  idea  the  teachings  of  the  Xew  Church 
are  everywhere  and  perpetually  at  war.  Accord- 
ing to  these  teachings  salvation  is  a  thing  of  de- 
grees— a  certain  advanced  spiritual  state — a  more 
or  less  perfect,  orderly  and  healthy  condition  of 
the  human  soul.  A  man  is  saved  in  the  degree 
that  his  natural  hereditary  and  selfish  proclivities 
are  brought  into  subjection  and  due  subordination 
to  the  higher  and  truly  human  faculties,  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom  and  Love  are  so  enthroned  within 
him  that  he  finds  his  chief  delight  in  learning  and 
doing  the  will  of  the  Lord.  So  that  the  higher 
his  wisdom  and  the  purer  his  love,  that  is,  the 
more  closely  he  is  conjoined  to  the  Lord  through 
a  life  of  obedience  to  revealed  truth,  so  much  the 
more  orderly  and  healthy  is  his  soul,  so  much  the 
more  blissful  his  state,  and  in  so  much  higher  de- 
gree, therefore,  is  he  saved. 

And  this  blessed,  orderly  or  saved  state,  is  not 
one  to  be  instantaneously  or  suddenly  attained. 
It  is  reached  only  through  a  long  and  brave  con- 
flict with  the  selfish  propensities  of  the  natural 
man — the  foes  of  each  one's  own  household.  It 
is  a  state  that  one  grows  into  gradually,  as  we 
grow  from  infancy  to  manhood,  from  a  state  of 
ignorance  to  one  of  intelligence.  The  means  by 
which  this  state  is  reached,  or  salvation  achieved, 
are  the  natural  and  spiritual  truths  we  learn,  our 
^  trials  and  disappointments,  our  Joys  and  sorrows, 


Salvation, 


85 


our  successes  and  defeats,  our  relations  and  inter- 
course with  others,  and  all  the  varied  discipline 
of  life.  By  these  means  the  all-loving  and  mer- 
ciful One  is  perpetually  working  through  all  our 
lives,  to  recreate  us  in  his  own  Divine  likeness, 
and  so  to  save  us  with  an  everlasting  salvation — 
to  fill  us  with  his  own  Spirit  and  Life.  And  his 
life  flows  into  us  just  in  the  degree  that  we  deny, 
overcome,  and  lose  our  own  hereditary  selfish 
life  for  his  sake;  for  in  that  degree  w^e  receive 
or  find  our  true  life,  agreeably  to  the  Lord's  own 
words:  "He  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall 
find  it ; "  that  is,  he  shall  find  a  new  life  far  superior 
and  more  blissful  than  the  old  selfish  life  he  has 
lost.  And  the  only  sure  way  of  attaining  this  new 
life,  which  is  the  salvation  (in  different  degrees) 
that  the  Bible  speaks  of,  is,  by  shunning  all  known 
evils  as  sins  against  God. 

"  To  be  led  away  from  evils,  to  be  regenerated 
and  thus  to  be  saved,"  says  Swedenborg,  "is  of 
mercy  which  is  not  immediate,  as  is  believed,  but 
mediate,  that  is,  to  those  who  recede  from  evils, 
and  thereby  admit  the  truth  of  faith  and  the  good 
of  love  from  the  Lord  into  their  life.  Immediate 
mercy,  or  that  which  would  extend  to  every  one 
from  the  good  pleasure  alone  of  God,  is  contrary 
to  divine  order ;  and  what  is  contrary  to  divine 
order  is  contrary  to  God,  for  order  is  from  God, 
and  his  Divine  in  heaven  is  order.  For  any  one 
to  receive  order  in  himself  is  to  be  saved,  w^hich 
8 


86      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

is  effected  solelv  by  living  according  to  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Lord."    (A.  C.  10,  659.) 

"  Instantaneous  reformation  and  consequent 
salvation  would  be  comparatively  like  the  instan- 
taneous conversion  of  an  owl  into  a  dove  and  of 
a  serpent  into  a  sheep.  ...  It  is  evident  that  all 
who  think  of  salvation  from  life,  think  of  no  in- 
stantaneous salvation  by  immediate  mercy,  but 
of  the  means  of  salvation  in  which  and  through 
which  the  Lord  operates  according  to  the  laws  of 
his  Divine  Providence ;  that  is,  through  which 
man  is  led  by  the  Lord  out  of  pure  mercy.  .  .  . 
Instantaneous  salvation  out  of  immediate  mercy, 
is  the  fiery  flving  serpent  in  the  church."  (D.  P. 
338,  '40.) 

Salvation  comes  from  the  life  which  a  man 
has  procured  for  himself  in  the  world  by  the 
knowledges  of  faith.  This  life  remains;  whereas 
all  thought  which  does  not  agree  with  a  man's 
life,  perishes  and  becomes  as  if  it  had  never  ex- 
isted. Heavenly  consociations  are  formed  accord- 
ing to  the  kinds  of  life,  and  by  no  means  accord- 
ing to  the  kinds  of  thought  which  are  not  in 
agreement  with  the  life."    (A.  C.  n.  2228.) 


VIII. — The  Doctrine  of  the  Cross. 

By  most  Christians —by  all,  indeed,  who  have 
assumed  the  title  of  "  evangelical  " — the  doctrine 
of  the  Cross  is  esteemed  the  most  precious  and 
vital  of  all  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  There 
is  no  other  doctrine  so  much  dwelt  upon  by  the 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Cross.  87 


religious  press,  so  often  introduced  into  pulpit  dis- 
courses, or  so  strongly  emphasized  by  teaching 
ministers,  as  this.  But  the  doctrine  as  commonly 
held  and  taught,  is  not  the  true  doctrine — far  from 
it.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  vicarious  sacrifice — the 
doctrine  of  "substitution" — interpreted  to  mean, 
that  the  physical  agony  which  Christ  endured  on 
the  cross,  was  the  price  of  redemption,  the  penalty 
demanded  by  an  angry  God  as  the  sole  condition 
of  pardon  and  forgiveness  of  sin ;  and  that  all 
who  accept  this  doctrine,  do  thereby  have  their 
sins  blotted  out,  and  receive  the  Divine  forgive- 
ness through  the  merits  of  Christ's  sufferings  and 
death. 

The  doctrine  as  thus  interpreted,  is  seen  to  be 
pui^ely  naturalistic.  There  is  nothing  spiritual  in 
it,  and  nothing  that  helps  us  spiritually.  It  is  suited 
to  the  apprehension  of  the  merely  natural  man  ; 
and  we  can  easily  understand  why  it  is  held  to  so 
tenaciously  and  prized  so  highly,  and  why  those 
who  have  once  confirmed  themselves  in  it,  find  its 
rejection  so  difiicult,  and  the  bare  thought  of  such 
a  thing  so  terrible.  For  the  denial  of  this  doc- 
trine (as  they  have  received  and  understood  it), 
deprives  them  of  the  hope  of  salvation — leaves 
their  heavy  debt  of  sin  unsatisfied,  its  penalty 
unpaid,  their  pardon  unsecured.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  that  it  is  a  hard  doctrine  to  get  rid  of 
when  once  accepted  and  confirmed. 


88      The  Uoctrinea  of  the  New  Church. 


The  New  Doctrine  on  this  Subject. 

What,  now,  is  the  New  Church  doctrine  on  the 
subject  ?  According  to  its  teachings,  the  passion 
of  the  Cross  was  the  consummation  of  that  stupen- 
dous series  of  spiritual  conflicts  whereby  the  Lord 
subdued  the  hells,  wrought  deliverance  for  man  by 
restoring  the  equilibrium  of  the  moral  universe, 
and  glorified  the  humanity  He  assumed.  It  was 
the  final  and  combined  assault  of  the  infernals 
upon  the  Prince  of  peace — the  last  and  crowning 
act  in  the  sublime  work  of  redemption  and  glori- 
fication. 

And  thus  the  Cross  becomes  a  symbol  full  of 
heavenly — yea,  of  divine  significance.  It  syjn- 
bolizes  those  spiritual  conflicts — conflicts  between 
heaven  and  hell  in  the  soul,  or  between  the  spir- 
itual and  the  natural  man — which  every  one  who 
enters  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  being  born  from 
Above,  is  called  to  endure.  This  inward  conflict 
between  good  and  evil,  is  spiritual  temptation. 
It  is  the  battle  of  the  Lord,  sometimes  fierce  and 
desperate — always  more  or  less  painful  to  the  soul 
of  him  who  engages  in  it.  But  it  is  indispensable 
to  the  soul's  purification  and  complete  develop- 
ment— indispensable  to  the  unfolding  of  the  high- 
est and  noblest  life,  or  to  the  final  victory  of  the 
spiritual  over  the  natural  man — inseparable  from 
and  indispensable  to  our  regeneration.    It  is  the 


The  Doctrine  of  the  Cross.  89 


spiritual  warfare  of  which  Paul  speaks,  and  which 
every  regenerating  soul  must  endure — a  warfare 
needful  to  the  purifying  and  strengthening  of  the 
soul,  and  necessary,  therefore,  to  its  entrance  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

From  this  we  may  learn  what  is  the  true  mean- 
ing of  taking  up  the  cross,  and  why  the  Lord 
says:  ''He  that  taketh  not  his  cross  and  followeth 
after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me  and  ''  if  any  one 
will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take 
up  his  cross  and  follow  me."  When  we  see  and 
acknowledge  our  evils,  and  strive  with  the  Lord's 
help  to  overcome  them,  or  to  bring  them  into 
complete  subjection  to  the  revealed  la\ys  of  our 
higher  or  heavenly  life,  we  are  doing  the  very 
thing  which  is  signified  in  the  spiritual  sense  by 
"taking  up  our  cross."  And  as  it  was  in  this 
way  that  the  Lord  overcame  the  hells  which  in- 
fested his  assumed  humanity,  and  so  made  that 
humanity  Divine,  we  are  really  and  in  the  true 
sense  "  following  "  Him,  when  we  thus  deny  self 
and  take  up  our  cross. 

Thus  the  doctrine  of  the  Cross,  as  held  and 
taught  in  the  New  Church,  is  at  once  rational  and 
spiritual,  and  eminently  practical.  It  involves 
the  doctrine  of  Christ's  glorification,  and  of  our 
regeneration  which  is  its  image  and  likeness.  It 
involves,  further,  the  doctrine  of  our  entire  de- 
pendence on  the  Lord  for  strength  to  overcome 


90      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


our  evils,  as  well  as  for  wisdom  to  engage  in  the 
conflict  therewith.  Rightly  understood,  there- 
fore, and  practically  viewed,  this  doctrine  is  seen 
to  be  one  of  supreme  importance. 

"By  taking  up  the  cross,"  says  Swedenborg, 
"is  meant  to  undergo  temptations."  (Ap.  Ex. 
893.)  And  spiritual  temptations  are  conflicts  be- 
tween good  and  evil,  or  heaven  and  hell  in  the 
soul.  "The  Lord  while  in  the  world  and  in  his 
human  there,  did,  of  his  own  proper  ability,  sus- 
tain and  overcome  all  temptations ;  differing  in 
this  from  every  man,  who  in  no  case  sustains  and 
overcomes  any  temptation  of  his  own  proper 
ability,  but  from  that  of  the  Lord  in  him.  ...  In 
spiritual  temptations  there  is  a  dispute  as  to  do- 
minion, or  as  to  which  shall  have  the  supremacy, 
the  internal  or  the  external,  or  what  is  the  same, 
the  spiritual  or  the  natural  man — these  being  en- 
tirely opposite  to  each  other.  When  man  is  in 
temptations,  his  internal  or  spiritual  man  is  under 
the  Lord's  rule  by  means  of  angels,  but  his  ex- 
ternal or  natural  man  is  under  the  rule  of  infernal 
spirits ;  and  the  combat  between  them  is  what  is 
perceived  in  man  as  temptation."  (A.  C.  n. 
3927.) 

"The  ends  to  which  temptations  are  conducive, 
are  these:  They  gain  for  good  dominion  over  evil, 
and  for  truth,  dominion  over  the  false ;  they  con- 
firm truths  in  the  mind,  and  conjoin  them  to  good; 
and  they  disperse  evils  and  the  falsities  thence  de- 
rived. They  serve  also  to  open  the  internal  ^])\v- 
itual  man,  and  to  bring  the  natural  into  subjection 
to  it ;  to  destroy  the  loves  of  self  and  the  world, 


The  Blood  of  Christ 


91 


and  to  subdue  the  lusts  which  proceed  from  them." 
(N.  J.  D.  n.  194.) 

"Regeneration  has  this  for  its  end:  that  the 
life  of  the  old  man  may  die,  and  the  new  life 
which  is  celestial  may  reviye  or  be  established. 
Hence  it  may  be  seen  that  there  must  at  all 
events  be  conflict ;  for  the  life  of  the  old  man 
resists,  nor  is  it  willing*  to  be  extinguished ;  and 
the  life  of  the  new  man  cannot  enter  unless  where 
the  life  of  the  old  is  extinct.  .  .  . 

"  He  who  thinks  from  an  enlightened  rational 
principle,  may  see  from  this  that  man  cannot  be 
regenerated  without  combat,  that  is,  without  spir- 
itual temptations ;  and  further,  that  he  is  not  re- 
generated by  oije  temptation,  but  by  many ;  for 
there  are  many  kinds  of  eyil  which  constituted 
the  delight  of  his  former  life,  that  is,  the  old  life'; 
and  all  these  evils  cannot  be  subdued  at  once  and 
together,  for  they  inhere  tenaciously,  since  they 
were  rooted  in  the  parents  for  many  ages  back, 
and  hence  are  become  innate  in  man,  and  con- 
firmed by  actual  evils  of  his  own  from  childhood ; 
all  of  which  evils  are  diametrically  opposite  to  ce- 
lestial good  which  is  to  be  insinuated  and  to  con- 
stitute the  new  life."    (A.  C.  n.  8403.) 


IX. — The  Blood  of  Christ. 

"  Salvation  by  the  blood  of  Christ,"  is  an  ex- 
pression often  on  the  lips  of  Christian  teachers; 
and  has  been  of  frequent  occurrence  in  their  writ- 
ings for  many  centuries.  And  there  is  ample  warr 


92      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


rant  for  this  in  the  New  Testament.  The  Apostle 
John  says:  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin ;"  and  that  He  "  washes  us  from 
our  sins  in  his  own  blood."  And  Paul  speaks 
of  being  "justified  by  his  blood,"  and  says, 
"  we  have  redemption,  even  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  through  his  blood."  This  language  has 
given  rise  to  much  controversy  among  Chris- 
tians. But  all  the  strife  has  arisen  from  a  too 
literal  interpretation  of  it. 

What  spiritual  thing,  then,  does  the  blood  of 
Christ  symbolize  or  stand  for  ?  When  this  is 
known,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  meaning  of 
being  washed,  cleansed,  redeemed  and  saved  by 
his  blood. 

The  Xew  Church  gives  a  rational  and  intel- 
ligible answer  to  this  question.  It  says  that 
blood,  which  is  the  means  of  nourishing  and  vital- 
izing the  body,  is  the  symbol  of  that  living  truth 
by  means  of  which  the  human  soul  is  nourished 
and  vitalized.  Christ's  blood,  therefore,  stands 
for  the  spirit  and  principles  of  his  religion — for 
those  high  and  holy  truths  contained  in  his  Word, 
and  of  which  He  was  Himself  the  very  incarna- 
tion. This  is  what  his  blood  corresponds  to  and 
signifies.  To  be  cleansed  and  saved  by  the  blood 
of  Christ,  therefore,  is  to  be  spiritually  washed 
and  saved;  is  to  have  our  souls  cleansed  of  their 
impure  thoughts  and  evil  desires  by  means  of  ^that 


The  Blood  of  Christ. 


93 


divine-human  truth  symbolized  by  his  blood — the 
truth  which  He  Himself  taug-ht  and  lived  and  glo- 
rified, and  thus  accommodated  to  the  needs  of  every 
human  being. 

When  we  heartily  receive  into  our  understand- 
ing any  divine  truth,  and  by  means  of  it  fight 
against  and  overcome  some  evil  within  us  which 
that  truth  reveals,  we  are  so  far  washed  and 
cleansed  by  that  truth — washed  and  cleansed  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  according  to  the  spiritual  and 
true  meaning  of  this  expression.  And  while  we  are 
doing  this — cleansing  our  souls  of  their  false  per- 
suasions and  evil  loves — we  are  at  the  same  time 
building  up  a  pure  and  virtuous  character ;  or,  what 
is  the  same,  we  are  receiving  into  our  hearts  the 
good  of  that  celestial  love  which  is  the  very  soul 
and  substance  of  truth.  And  this  good  of  love  is 
what  Christ's  flesh  corresponds  to  and  signifies. 

From  this  brief  explanation  of  these  divine 
symbols,  we  may  understand  what  it  is  to  eat 
Christ's  flesh  and  drink  his  blood.  It  is  to  re- 
ceive into  our  understandings  the  heavenly  truths 
which  He  taught  and  lived,  and  to  so  apply  those 
truths  to  life,  that  we  shall  receive  into  our  hearts 
the  good  of  that  unselfish  love  which  is  the  sub- 
stance and  body  of  these  truths.  In  short,  it  is 
to  receive  and  have  our  souls  fed  and  nourished 
by  Christ's  own  unselfish  life,  which  is  the  high- 
est or  heavenly  life — the  only  true  and  eternal  life. 


94      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

And  from  this  we  may  understand  what  Jesus 
meant  when  He  called  Himself  "  the  living-  bread  " 
from  heaven,  and  said:  ''He  that  eateth  me,  even 
he  shall  live  by  me also  when  He  said :  "  He  that 
eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth 
in  me  and  I  in  him;"  and  "except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  Man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have 
no  life  in  you."  For  we  have  no  true  spiritual 
life,  and  can  have  none,  except  as  we  receive 
heavenly  truth  (the  blood  of  the  Lamb)  into  our 
understandings,  and,  through  the  faithful  applica- 
tion of  that  truth  to  life,  receive  into  our  hearts 
the  good  of  that  unselfish  love  which  is  the  life 
and  soul  of  truth. 

This  is  a  condensed  statement  of  what  the  New 
Church  teaches  on  this  subject.  To  quote  a  single 
and  brief  passage  from  Swedenborg  by  way  of 
confirmation  : 

"  Since  all  spiritual  and  celestial  things  relate 
solely  to  good  and  truth,  it  follows  that  flesh 
means  the  good  of  charity,  and  blood  the  truth 
of  faith ;  and  in  the  supreme  sense  the  Lord  as 
to  the  divine  good  of  love  and  the  divine  truth 
of  wisdom.  ...  It  is  known  that  the  Lord  is  the 
Word ;  and  there  are  two  principles  to  which  all 
things  in  the  Word  relate.  Divine  Good  and  Divine 
Truth.  Therefore  if  the  Word  is  substituted  for 
the  Lord,  it  is  plain  that  these  two  principles  are 
meant  by  his  flesh  and  blood."  (T.  C.  R.  706.) 


''The  End  of  the  World,"  95 


X.—"  The  End  of  the  World:' 

The  generally  accepted  belief  among  Christians 
at  the  time  Swedenborg  wrote  (and  the  belief  is 
still  quite  prevalent),  was,  that  this  natural  world 
with  all  its  appurtenances  is  one  day  to  be  utterly 
destroyed ;  the  earth  to  be  burned  up ;  the  sun, 
moon  and  stars  to  be  extinguished,  and  the  wheels 
of  time  to  cease  revolving ;  that  the  hosts  of  hu- 
man beings  who  have  lived  and  died  since  the 
dawn  of  creation,  would  then  be  resurrected  and 
summoned  to  judgment ;  and  that  this  would  be 
"the  end  of  the  world." 

This  doctrine  is  so  unreasonable  as  to  render 
unnecessary  any  thing  like  a  serious  refutation. 
It  involves  such  a  manifest  departure  from  all  the 
known  laws  of  order,  progress,  preservation  and 
reproduction,  as  well  as  of  Divine  wisdom  and  benef- 
icence, as  to  render  it  utterly  incredible  to  every 
thoughtful  and  reflecting  mind.  It  doubtless  had 
its  origin  in  the  mistranslation  of  the  Greek  phrase 
y 'avvTe?.eia  Tov  diuvog  {he  siinteleia  tou  aidnos),  and 
the  misunderstanding  and  misinterpretation  of  the 
symbolic  language  of  the  New  Testament,  espe- 
cially of  that  which  speaks  of  the  passing  away  of 
the  former  heaven  and  earth,  of  the  darkening  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  falling  of  the  stars — all 
of  which  language  as  interpreted  by  the  rule  of  cor- 


96      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


respondence  revealed  for  the  New  Church,  yields  a 
perfectly  rational  and  consistent  meaning.  Every 
Greek  scholar  knows  that  Aluv  (Aion)  does  not 
mean  world,  as  rendered  in  our  common  Enu'lish 
version,  but  aii  age,  a  life,  any  full  period  from 
beginning  to  end.  And  sunteleia  means  the  con- 
summation, end  or  completion  of  that  age  or 
period.  So  that  this  Greek  phrase  correctly  ren- 
dered into  English,  would  read,  "the  consumma- 
tion of  the  Age,"  and  not  "  the  end  of  the  world" 
as  in  our  common  version. 

And  what  is  to  be  understood  by  the  consum- 
mation of  the  Age"?  According  to  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Church,  this  phrase  refers  to  the  first 
Christian  Age  and  its  consummation,  or  to  the 
end  of  the  first  Christian  Church,  when  also  a 
new  Age  and  Church  were  to  commence.  History 
records  several  different  Ages — as  the  Golden,  the 
Silver  and  the  Copper  Ages — each  of  which  has 
passed  away  or  been  consummated.  In  general, 
the  period  during  which  any  particular  system  of 
opinions,  either  political,  social,  philosophical  or 
religious,  bear  sway  over  the  minds  of  men,  is 
denominated  an  Age.  And  when  the  sway  of 
such  opinions  is  loosened  or  destroyed,  that  Age 
is  consummated.  AVhen,  therefore,  our  Lord  fore- 
told a  ''consummation  of  the  Age,"  what  else 
could  He  refer  to  but  the  end  or  consummation 
of  that  church  which  had  just  commenced,  and 


''The  End  of  the  World,"  97 


which  we  call  the  first  Christian  church  ? — for  all 
his  words,  rightly  interpreted,  have  reference  to 
the  spiritual  things  of  heaven  and  the  church. 
And  when  the  truths  and  goods  of  heaven  are  no 
longer  received  by  the  men  of  the  church,  but  fal- 
sities and  evils  instead,  then  its  vitality  is  gone — 
the  essential  things  of  the  church  are  no  longer 
there.    That  church  is  at  an  end. 

By  the  end  of  the  church,  or  the  consummation 
of  the  Age,  therefore,  is  meant  its  spiritual  con- 
summation, the  loss  of  genuine  charity  and  faith 
which  are  the  essential  things  of  the  church,  and 
not  the  abandonment  of  its  places  and  forms  of 
worship,  its  rites  and  ordinances,  or  any  of  the 
externals  of  religion.  When  the  leading  doctrines 
of  Christianity — doctrines  concerning  the  Lord, 
the  Atonement,  the  Sacred  Scripture,  Redemp- 
tion, Regeneration,  the  Resurrection,  Heaven  and 
Hell — have  become  so  misunderstood  and  falsified 
that  they  darken  rather  than  enlighten  the  human 
understanding ;  and  when,  reading  the  Scriptures 
under  the  influence  of  such  darkening  doctrines, 
people  no  longer  receive  therefrom  genuine  truth 
but  truth  falsified ;  and  when  the  internal  states 
or  ruling  loves  of  the  church  are  consequently  as 
evil  as  its  accepted  dogmas  are  false,  then  the 
church  is  consummated.  And  we  submit  to  every 
thoughtful  mind  that  nothing  less  than  a  new  Rev- 
elation from  God  out  of  heaven  could  then  be  ex- 
9  G 


98      The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

pected,  for  nothing  less  would  be  adequate  to  the 
removal  of  such  falsities  and  evils,  and  the  conse- 
quent inauguration  of  a  new  Age  or  Church. 

And  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  New 
Theology,  such  consummation  of  the  first  Chris- 
tian Age  or  Church  was  reached  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  last  century  (1Y5Y)  ;  when  also  a  gen- 
eral judgment  was  executed  in  the  spiritual  world 
upon  the  vast  multitude  of  spirits  who  had  been 
congregating  in  the  intermediate  realm  since  the 
time  of  the  Lord's  advent  in  the  flesh.  Being 
alike  in  externals,  they  were  kept  together  in  that 
realm  for  a  long  time,  and  formed  there  a  kind 
of  heaven  for  themselves.  It  was  not  a  true  but 
only  an  imaginary  heaven, — the  heaven  in  which 
there  was  "  war  "  between  Michael  and  the  Dragon 
(Rev.  xii.  7), — the  "first  heaven"  which  passed 
away  (Rev.  xxi.  1)  as  the  judgment  was  executed 
on  its  denizens.  That  judgment  occurred  as  one 
of  the  normal  results  of  a  new  and  more  powerful 
influx  of  truth  from  the  Lord  into  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  those  there,  thus  revealing  and  judging 
their  interior  quality ;  and  as  this  was  found  to  be 
quite  different  and  even  opposite — that  of  some 
being  good,  and  that  of  others  evil — when  their 
interiors  were  fully  disclosed  a  separation  took 
place  by  force  of  the  law  of  spiritual  attraction 
and  repulsion.  The  good  were  elevated  to  con- 
genial societies  in  heaven,  and  the  evil  passed  into 


"  The  End  of  the  World,"  99 


hell — each  to  the  society  determined  by  his  own 
character  or  ruling  love.  Thus  things  were  re- 
duced to  order  in  the  spiritual  realm ;  the  dense 
clouds  of  falsity  which  had  been  so  long  gather- 
ing in  the  world  of  spirits,  shutting  out  the  light 
of  the  spiritual  Sun  and  producing  such  spiritual 
darkness  in  the  church  on  earth,  were  dispersed ; 
and  straightway  there  began  to  be  a  freer,  more 
interior,  and  more  universal  influx  of  divine  truth 
and  good  into  the  minds  of  men  on  earth.  The  old 
Age  was  consummated,  and  the  first  Christian  dis- 
pensation had  come  to  its  end,  according  to  Divine 
prediction ;  and  a  new  Age  was  inaugurated  and  a 
new  Christian  dispensation  commenced  ; — an  Age 
which  was  to  be  characterized  by  greater  freedom 
of  thought  on  all  subjects  pertaining  to  religion 
and  the  church,  and  by  a  consequent  higher  degree 
of  spiritual  enlightenment.  Accordingly  Sweden- 
borg  says : 

"  The  state  of  the  world  and  of  the  church 
before  the  last  judgment,  was  as  evening  and 
night ;  but  after  it,  as  morning  and  day. 

"After  the  last  judgment  was  accomplished, 
there  was  joy  in  heaven  and  light  also  in  the 
world  of  spirits  such  as  was  not  before  ;  .  .  .  be- 
cause the  infernal  societies  that  had  been  inter- 
posed like  clouds  which  darken  the  earth,  were 
removed.  A  similar  light  also  then  arose  in  men 
in  the  world,  giving  them  new  enlightenment." 
— Contin.  L.  J.  n.  13,  30. 


100    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


Such  is  a  brief  explanation  of  the  doctrine  held 
and  taught  by  the  New  Church,  concerning  that 
event  referred  to  by  the  passage  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament mistranslated  ''the  end  of  th^  world." 
Of  its  reasonableness  as  compared  with  the  old 
doctrine,  it  is  needless  to  speak  here.  The  candid 
reader  will  judge  of  that  for  himself.  But  if  he 
will  look  at  the  state  of  the  world  and  of  the 
church  at  the  present  day,  and  compare  it  with 
what  it  was  prior  to  1757,  he  cannot  resist  the 
conclusion  that  we  have  actually  entered  upon  a 
new  Era,  and  that  some  such  event  as  that  de- 
scribed by  Swedenborg,  must  have  occurred  in 
the  spiritual  world — the  realm  of  causes — about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century.  No  other  ade- 
quate and  philosophical  reason  can  be  given  for 
the  astounding  phenomena  and  the  marvelous 
progress  and  developments, — scientific,  industrial, 
moral  and  religious, — which  have  so  conspicuously 
marked  the  period  since  1757,  the  alleged  date  of 
the  last  general  judgment.* 


XI. — The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord. 

In  three  of  the  Gospels  (Matthew,  Mark  and 
Luke),  we  have  a  prophetic  announcement  of 

*  For  a  fuller  explanation  of  this  subject,  and  for  the  evidence, 
both  Scriptural  and  rational,  of  what  is  here  afiBrmed,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Lectures  on  the  New  Dispensation,  by  the  author,  pp.  32-GO. 


The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord.  101 

another  and  then  future  coming  or  manifestation 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  it  is  said  would  be  in 
the  clouds  "  or  the  clouds  of  heaven."  And  we 
read  also  in  the  Revelation  :  Behold  He  cometh 
with  clouds."  And  in  accordance  with  the  sen- 
suous philosophy  and  the  literal  method  of  inter- 
pretation which  have  prevailed  in  the  church, 
Christians  have  generally  expected  that  this 
prophecy  would  be  fulfilled  according  to  the  sense 
of  the  letter.  And  repeatedly  has  the  time  been 
fixed  when  the  Lord  was  expected  to  appear  in 
person  upon  the  natural  clouds,  visible  to  the 
natural  eyes  of  men. 

It  is  not  strange  that  Christians  should  have 
misunderstood  and  misinterpreted  this  prophecy. 
It  is  precisely  what  might  have  been  expected. 
For  no  divine  prophecy  was  ever  understood  or 
correctly  interpreted  until  after  its  fulfillment. 
How  was  it  in  regard  to  the  prophecies  concern- 
ing the  Lord's  first  advent  ?  The  Jews  were  ex- 
pecting the  Messiah ;  for  their  Scriptures  had 
foretold  his  advent.  But  so  far  were  they  from 
understanding  the  true  import  of  the  prophecies 
concerning  Him — so  little  did  they  comprehend 
of  the  spirit  of  their  Scriptures,  and  so  closely 
did  they  stick  to  the  letter,  that  when  He  came 
whose  advent  was  foretold,  his  character  and  con- 
duct were  so  different  from  what  th?y  had  ex- 
pected, that  they  refused  to  receive  Him.  They 
9* 


102    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

regarded  and  treated  Him  as  an  impostor, — con- 
demned and  crucified  Him  as  a  malefactor. 

Seeing,  then,  how  the  Jewish  church  misunder- 
stood the  prophecies  concerning  Messiah's  first 
advent,  it  were  reasonable  to  expect  that  those 
relating  to  his  second  coming  would  be  equally 
misunderstood  by  Christians.  It  were  reasonable 
to  expect  that  his  promised  second  appearing 
would  be  in  aome  form  different  from  the  general 
expectation ; — so  different,  indeed,  that  He  would 
not  at  first  be  generally  recognized  even  by  those 
who  bear  his  name  and  are  looking  for  his  ad- 
vent. 

And  yet  the  repeated  caution  to  "  watch  "  and 
"  take  heed  "  lest  we  be  deceived  in  this  matter, 
would  seem  to  be  of  itself  sufficient  to  have  pre- 
vented Christians  from  expecting  a  literal  fulfill- 
ment of  the  prophecy.  And  the  reason  assigned 
for  this  caution,  is :  "  For  there  shall  arise  false 
Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  shall  show  great 
signs  and  wonders,  insomuch  that,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible, they  shall  deceive  the  very  elect."  Surely 
there  were  no  need  of  cautioning  people  against 
being  deceived,  if  the  prophecy  concerning  his 
second  coming  were  intended  to  be  literally  ful- 
filled ;  for  in  that  case  there  w^ere  no  opportunity 
for  imposture.  No  one  could  so  imitate  this 
promised  appearing  of  our  Lord,  according  to  the 
sense  of  the  letter,  as  to  deceive  anybody.  This 


The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord.  103 

caution,  therefore,  to  take  heed  lest  we  be  deceived 
and  accept  some  false  Christ  for  the  true  one,  is 
itself  proof  that  the  Old  doctrine  on  this  subject 
cannot  be  the  true  one.  It  shows  that  his  coming 
was  not  to  be  in  a  form  addressed  to  the  outward 
but  to  the  inward  sense — to  the  understanding, 
or  the  mental  eye.  For,  in  respect  to  things  ad- 
dressed to  the  understanding,  men  are  liable  to  be 
deceived.  They  are  liable  to  be  imposed  upon — 
often  have  been — by  pretended  and  spurious  rev- 
elations. They  are  liable  to  accept  falsity  for 
truth.  Hence  the  ground  and  reason  for  the  di- 
vine exhorta.tion  to  ''watch"  and  "take  heed" 
that  we  be  not  deceived. 

The  New  Doctrine  on  this  Subject, 

Turning,  now,  from  the  Old  doctrine  which  is 
alike  unreasonable  and  unscriptural,  let  us  see 
what  the  New  Church  teaches  on  this  subject. 
Briefly  stated,  it  is :  That  the  promised  second 
advent  of  the  Lord,  is  a  new  and  fuller  revelation 
of  Himself  and  of  the  great  facts  and  laws  of  his 
heavenly  kingdom,  to  the  understandings  and 
hearts  of  men ;  a  new  and  fuller  unfolding  of  the 
deep  and  heavenly  meaning  of  the  Word  which 
is  from  Him  and  is  Himself ;  a  fresh  and  more 
powerful  influx  of  his  own  light  and  life  into  all 
open,  receptive  and  obedient  souls,  recreating 
them  in  his  own  Divine  likeness,  and  gradually 


104    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

remoulding  human  society  after  a  new  and  heav- 
enly pattern.  It  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  Epoch 
— a  new  and  majestic  step  in  the  Divine  economy 
towards  the  fulfillment  of  the  prayer,  "  Thy  king- 
dom come,  thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven  so  also 
upon  earth."  The  Scripture  affords  abundant 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  doctrine.  For,  con- 
sider : 

1st.  Who  is  the  Son  of  Man  whose  advent  is 
foretold?  This  very  inquiry  was  made  of  the 
Lord  himself  when  on  earth ;  and  his  answer 
was :  Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light  with  you. 
Walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest  darkness  come 
upon  you."  The  Son  of  Man,  then,  is  the  Light 
— the  light  by  which  we  are  to  be  guided  in  the 
regulation  of  our  thoughts,  feelings,  dispositions 
and  conduct — the  light  of  divine  truth.  Hence 
He  is  elsewhere  called  ''the  Light  of  life,"  "the 
Light  of  the  world,"  "the  true  Light  which 
lighteth  every  man ;  "  for  He  is  the  light  of  the 
moral  universe,  the  Illuminator  of  all  minds.  He 
is  also  declared  to  be  the  Logos  or  Word  which 
"was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  and  was  God," 
and  which,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  "became  flesh, 
and  dwelt  among  men  ;  "  which  means  that  He 
of  whose  second  coming  the  Gospels  speak,  was 
the  visible  incarnation  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  or 
Word.  And  when  the  seer  of  Patmos  was  "in 
the  spirit,"  and  "saw  heaven  opened,"  he  beheld 


The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord.  105 

One  "  called  Faithful  and  True,"  seated  upon  a 
white  horse  and  followed  by  the  armies  of  heaven, 
having  upon  his  head  many  crowns,  and  written 
upon  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  the  title,  "  King 
of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords ; "  and  his  special 
function  was — the  exclusive  function  of  divine 
truth  from  the  Word — "to  judge  in  righteous- 
ness," and  "make  war"  against  the  beast  and 
false  prophet,  or  the  combined  forces  of  falsity 
and  evil  that  are  forever  in  battle-array  against 
the  truth  and  righteousness  of  the  Most  High. 
And,  as  if  to  leave  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  who 
this  true  and  faithful "  One  might  be,  it  is 
added:  "And  He  was  clothed  with  a  vesture 
dipped  in  blood,  and  his  name  is  called  the  Word 
of  God." 

The  Son  of  Man,  then,  is  the  Word  of  God— 
the  very  Divine  Wisdom  or  Truth.  This  is  the 
plain  testimony  of  Scripture.  What,  then,  can 
the  prophecy  of  his  second  coming  mean,  but  the 
prophecy  of  a  new  and  more  powerful  manifesta- 
tion of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  Love  to  the  under- 
standings and  hearts  of  men  ? — a  new  or  second 
coming  of  the  Word  of  God  ?  And  what  can  a 
new  or  second  coming  of  the  Word  mean,  but  a 
new  revelation  of  the  deeper,  even  the  heavenly, 
meaning  of  the  Word  ? — a  new  disclosure  of  its 
real  nature  and  its  sacred  mysteries,  or  of  its  in- 
terior divine  glories  ? — an  opening  and  revealing, 


106    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

to  such  as  have  eyes  to  see,  of  the  sublime  truths 
of  its  spiritual  sense,  and  the  correspondingly  pow- 
erful operation  of  these  truths  in  the  renewal  of 
the  hearts  and  lives  of  men  ?  Hence  we  may  see 
why  this  promised  second  coming  was  to  be  "  with 
power  and  great  glory." 

But  the  prophecy  assures  us  that  He  would  be 
seen  coming  in  or  upon  the  clouds — according  to 
Matthew,  "in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  The  term 
-clouds,  is  not  to  be  literally  interpreted  here.  The 
science  of  correspondences  reveals  to  us  its  true 
spiritual  meaning  as  used  in  Scripture.  As  nat- 
ural clouds  conceal  or  render  obscure  the  heavenly 
luminaries,  they  are,  therefore,  an  appropriate 
symbol  whereby  to  represent  that  which  causes 
obscurity  in  the  things  of  heaven  and  the  church. 
And  such  obscurity  is  one  of  the  consequences  of 
that  low  mental  state  in  which  men  are  led  to 
accept  appearances  for  realities,  and  so  to  abide 
in  the  mere  sensuous  appearance  of  truth  in  the 
letter  of  Scripture.  Thus  the  truths  of  the  lit- 
eral sense,  as  received  and  understood  by  the 
natural  man,  are  what  is  meant  by  clouds.  And 
when  the  deeper  heavenly  meaning,  such  as  is 
contained  in  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  is 
disclosed,  then  the  genuine  truth  is  seen  in  or 
through  the  obscurity  of  the  letter.  And  thus 
is  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  the  Son  of  Man  com- 
ing in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 


The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord.  107 

And  whoever  has  made  himself  acquainted  with 
the  general  condition  of  the  Christian  Church  at 
the  time  Swedenborg  lived  and  TVTote,  knows  that 
it  had  fallen  into  a  very  low  and  degraded  state. 
It  was  thoroughly  immersed  in  the  things  of 
sense.  Its  philosophy  was  sensuous ;  its  doc- 
trines were  sensuous;  its  conceptions  of  heav- 
enly realities  and  its  methods  of  Biblical  inter- 
pretation were  altogether  sensuous;  and  oa  nearly 
every  subject  connected  with  Christian  theology, 
the  minds  of  the  great  mass  of  professed  believers 
and  even  teachers  of  the  Gospel,  were  terribly  be- 
clouded. And  although  many  and  dark  clouds 
still  linger,  we  are  not  to  look  at  the  Christian 
Church  as  it  is  to-day,  but  as  it  was  prior  to 
the  memorable  year  1757,  if  we  would  learn 
how  indispensable  to  the  progress  and  welfare 
of  humanity  was  this  new  opening  of  the  Bible 
as  to  its  heavenly  meaning — this  coming  of  the 
Word  of  God  in  its  divine  spirit  and  power.  All 
the  prophecies  concerning  the  first  Christian  dis- 
pensation had  been  fulfilled,  in  their  spiritual  sense 
— including  this  also ;  "  Immediately  after  the  trib- 
ulation of  those  days,  the  sun  shall  be  darkened, 
and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the 
stars  shall  fall  from  heaven."  For  the  kindling 
warmth  of  the  Divine  love,  and  the  illumination 
of  a  genuine  faith,  and  even  the  knowledges  of 
divine  and  heavenly  things,  had  been  withdrawn, 


108    The  Doetinnes  of  the  New  Church, 

or  rather  shut  out  from  the  minds  of  Christians  by 
the  gigantic  accumulation  of  falsity  and  evil. 

But  at  this  juncture,  amid  the  dense  clouds  of 
ignorance  and  error  and  doubt  and  denial — gener- 
ated by  the  inordinate  loves  of  self  and  the  world 
which  had  extinguished  in  human  minds  all  the 
bright  and  heavenly  luminaries — amid  these  dark 
encompassing  clouds  there  comes  a  new  and  glo- 
rious light.  A  new  Morning  dawns.  A  new  Age 
is  ushered  in  by  the  influx  of  new  life  and  the  rev- 
elation of  new  and  higher  truth.  From  under- 
neath the  cloud  of  the  letter — out  from  the  living 
soul  of  Scripture — the  Sun  of  righteousness  arises 
with  healing  in  his  wings.  And  thus,  to  humble 
and  open  minds,  the  incarnate  God  comes  and  re- 
veals Himself  anew — comes  with  new  power  and 
glory  in  the  clouds.  Agreeable  to  his  own  pro- 
phetic declaration :  "And  they  shall  see  the  Son 
of  Man  coming  in  the  <3louds  of  heaven  with 
power  and  great  glory." 

And  although  the  Church  is  not  yet  arrayed  in 
her  beautiful  bridal  robes,  it  is  apparent  to  all  eyes 
that  a  new  Morning  has  broken  upon  the  world. 
The  light  of  the  Xew  Dispensation  is  gleaming 
all  around  us.  Science,  philosophy,  literature, 
art,  politics,  morals,  and  even  religion,  have  be- 
gun to  feel  the  influence  of  the  Second  Coming. 
The  old  forms  of  thought  have  greatly  changed, 
and  are  still  rapidly  changing.    Old  religious  dog- 


The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord,  109 

mas,  old  systems  of  philosophy,  old  theories  of 
politics,  old  forms  of  government,  old  modes  of 
education,  old  systems  of  medicine,  old  industrial 
processes,  old  methods  of  dispensing  charity,  old 
ideas  on  all  subjects,  are  being  everywhere  sum- 
moned to  judgment. 

But  these  are  external  things,  and  illustrate  but 
feebly  the  power  and  glory  of  the  Second  Coming. 
The  grandest  triumphs  of  the  New  Dispensation 
are  not  to  be  achieved  in  the  outer  world  of  matter, 
but  in  the  inner  world  of  mind.  When  the  spirit- 
ual sense  of  God's  Word  really  comes  to  us — that 
is,  comes  to  be  clearly  perceived,  acknowledged 
and  felt — it  searches  the  inner  chambers  of  the 
soul  as  with  a  thousand  candles  of  the  Lord.  It 
opens  up  the  hitherto  hidden  depths  of  iniquity 
within  us.  It  discloses  the  endless  deceits  and 
artifices  and  sinuosities  of  the  unregenerate  heart. 
It  shows  us  our  need  of  an  almighty  Saviour,  and 
brings  that  Saviour  very  near.  It  shows  us  plainly 
of  the  Father ;  for  it  reveals,  in  the  person  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  matchless  and  unspeakable 
love  of  God.  It  withdraws  the  veil  that  has  so 
long  hung  over  the  spiritual  world,  and  discloses 
the  real  nature  of  heaven  and  hell.  It  makes 
plain  to  every  inquiring  mind  the  great  end  for 
which  we  were  created,  and  shows  us  beyond 
mistake  the  way  in  which  that  end  is  to  be  se- 
cured. It  resolves  the  doubts  of  honest  doubters 
10 


110    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


in  regard  to  the  divinity  and  inspiration  of  the 
Scripture ;  reconciles  all  parts  of  it  with  each 
other  and  with  enlightened  reason ;  shows  the 
perfect  agreement  between  science  and  religion ; 
and  satisfies  the  severest  demands  of  the  intellect 
in  regard  to  the  Trinity,  Atonement,  Redemp- 
tion, Resurrection,  and  other  doctrines  which,  as 
based  upon  the  literal  teachings  of  the  Bible  and 
as  commonly  held  and  expounded,  are  known  to 
be  embarrassed  with  many  and  great  difficulties. 
Truly  does  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  come 
to  the  rational  understanding  "  with  power  and 
great  glory." 

And  yet  it  is  not  here  that  its  greatest  power 
and  glory  are  to  be  seen ;  not  in  its  ability  to 
clarify  the  intellect,  or  satisfy  the  demands  of 
reason,  but  in  its  renovating  influence  upon  the 
heart ;  in  its  cleansing  and  purifying  efficacy ;  in 
its  power  to  soften  and  subdue  the  natural  man ; 
to  sweeten  the  temper  ;  to  refine  the  feelings  ;  to 
purify  the  motives ;  to  elevate  the  afi'ections ;  to 
exalt  and  ennoble  the  purposes ;  to  weaken  the 
power  of  evil  within  us  ;  to  recreate  our  inner 
man  into  somewhat  of  our  Heavenly  Father's 
likeness ;  and  so  to  build  us  up  a  living  temple  fit 
for  the  residence  of  God's  Holy  Spirit. 

This,  briefly,  is  the  Xew  doctrine  concerning 
the  Second  Coming, — a  doctrine  at  once  Scrip- 
tural and  rational,  and  whose  wholesome  practical 


The  Second  Coming  of  the  Lord,  111 

tendency  will  not  be  denied.  And  under  this 
New  Dispensation,  it  is  believed  that  a  New 
Christian  Church  is  to  be  built  up,  which  will 
ultimately  be  like  a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  that  can- 
not be  hid ; — a  Church  which  will  be  filled  with 
all  sweet  and  gentle  charities,  conspicuous  for  all 
wise  and  philanthropic  deeds,  crowned  with  all 
noble  and  heavenly  graces,  "  beautiful  as  a  bride 
adorned  for  her  husband." 

This  New  Church  is  shadowed  forth  in  the 
Apocalypse  under  the  image  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem descending  out  of  heaven  from  God,  having 
the  glory  of  God.  It  is  to  be  a  truly  catholic 
church,  for  its  spirit  is  the  all-embracing  spirit  of 
God's  Word.  Its  platform  is  broad  as  the  foun- 
dation of  the  angelic  heavens.  The  divinity  of 
the  Lord,  the  divinity  of  the  Word,  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  life  according  to  the  commandments 
— these  are  its  fundamentals.  Its  essential  and 
ruling  spirit  is  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor; 
and  therefore  it  excludes  from  its  communion  and 
fellowship  none  who  exhibit  this  spirit. 

Such  is  the  character  of  the  Apocalyptic  New 
Jerusalem,  the  blessed  result  and  crowning  glory 
of  the  Second  Coming.  Such  the  Church  whose 
foundations  are  "all  manner  of  precious  stones," 
having  Jesus  Christ  himself  for  "the  head  of  the 
corner."  Such  the  Church,  in  whose  early  dawn 
it  is  believed  we  are  even  now  living;  whose 


112    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


rising  noon  a  remote  posterity  will  rejoice  in ; 
whose  central  light  and  life  and  perpetual  inspira- 
tion is  the  Lord  in  his  Divine  Humanity ;  and 
into  which  "there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  anything 
that  defileth,  or  worketh  abomination,  or  maketh 
a  lie ;  but  they  that  are  written  in  the  Lamb's 
book  of  life." 


XII. — The  Sacred  Scripture. 

One  of  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  New 
Theology,  and  that  which  gives  color  to  the  entire 
system,  is  the  kind  and  degree  of  inspiration 
which  it  attributes  to  the  Sacred  Scripture,  and 
the  alleged  peculiarity  in  the  style  of  its  compo- 
sition. The  New  Church  maintains  its  plenary 
divine  inspiration,  declaring  it  to  be  strictly,  and 
without  qualification,  the  Word  of  God.  Sweden- 
borg  says  that  the  Bible  was  never  meant  to  in- 
struct mankind  in  natural  science,  or  the  laws  of 
the  material  universe ;  but  that  it  was  given  to 
teach  us  concerning  spiritual  things ;  such  as  the 
personality  and  character  of  God  and  our  relation 
to  Him ;  the  reality  and  nature  of  the  spiritual 
world ;  the  capabilities  and  wants  of  the  human 
soul,  and  the  means  by  which  its  most  perfect 
state  and  highest  bliss  are  to  be  secured.  Through 
the  blinding  influence  of  sin,  man  lost  the  knowl- 


The  ISacred  Scripture. 


113 


edge  of  the  things  which  it  most  deeply  concerned 
him  to  know.  He  lost  all  knowledge  of  his  inner 
and  superior  life — all  perception  of  the  laws, 
capabilities  and  undying  needs  of  his  own  soul. 
It  was  this  loss,  therefore,  which  rendered  a  Di- 
vine Revelation  necessary. 

What  else,  then,  but  spiritual  things — God,  the 
soul,  immortality,  redemption,  regeneration,  retri- 
bution, sin,  holiness,  heaven  and  its  blessedness, 
hell  and  its  misery, — can  the  Bible,  when  rightly 
understood  and  interpreted,  have  been  given  to 
teach  us?  Yet  we  know  that  it  treats  or  appears 
to  treat  mnch  of  natural  and  temporal  things. 
We  know  that  it  abounds  in  the  mention  of  times, 
places,  persons,  things  and  events  belonging  to 
this,  natural  world.  But  according  to  Swedenborg 
all  these  natural  and  temporal  things  are  but  sym- 
bols of  something  spiritual.*    They  all  have  a 

*  The  doctrine,  so  much  insisted  on  by  Swedenborg,  that  the 
Bible  is  a  book  of  Divine  symbols,  is  recognized  by  many  Biblical 
scholars  and  pious  Christian  authors.  In  an  interesting  article  on 
"Symbols  of  Thought,"  by  the  late  Rev.  E.  E.  Adams,  D.D.,  we 
meet  with  such  passages  as  the  following : 

"  The  Bible  is  a  book  of  symbols,— not  word-symbols  only,  but 
types,  scenes,  visions,  and  life-symbols.  As  a  whole  it  expresses 
the  love  and  wisdom  and  purpose  of  God."  "  The  Tabernacle  was 
a  symbol  of  God's  presence  and  dwelling-place.  The  Temple, 
with  all  its  varied,  spacious,  rich  apartments,  and  its  furniture, 
was  a  sublime  symbol  of  heaven  and  its  worship.  The  bondage 
of  Israel,  their  release,  their  march  through  the  Red  Sea,  their 
wanderings,  their  miraculous  supply  of  manna  from  heaven,  and 
of  Wiiter  from  the  smitten  rock,  their  passage  over  Jordan  afld  en- 
trance into  Canaan,  prefigured,  symbolized  a  grand  spiritual  his- 
tory—the rise,  progress  and  completeness  of  the  Christian  Church. 
10*  H 


114    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

spiritual  signification.  So  that,  within  or  above 
the  apparent  sense  of  Scripture,  called  also  the 
natural  or  literal  sense,  he  recognizes  a  higher 
meaning  which  he  calls  the  internal  or  spiritual. 
This  higher  or  spiritual  sense,  is  to  that  of  the 
letter,  as  the  soul  is  to  the  body :  and  it  dwells  in 
every  part  of  the  written  Word  as  the  soul  dwells 
in  every  part  of  the  body.  As  the  body  without 
the  soul  is  dead,  so  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word 
apart  from  the  spiritual,  is  dead  also.  As  the 
body  derives  all  its  life  and  strength  from  the  in- 
dwelling soul,  so  the  literal  sense  of  the  Word 
receives  its  vitality  and  power  from  the  spiritual 
sense.  And  as  the  body  is  the  normal  outbirth 
of  the  soul,  and  corresponds  to  it  as  an  effect  cor- 
responds to  its  producing  cause,  so  the  literal  sense 
of  the  Word  is  the  normal  outbirth  of  the  spiritual, 
and  corresponds  to  it  in  like  manner.  And  as 
body  and  soul  are  united  by  correspondence,  the 
one  being  filled,  pervaded,  and  animated  by  the 


Even  the  men  of  that  age  were  living  symbols  of  the  God-man." 
"The  poetry  of  the  Bible,  indeed  all  poetry,  is  symbolic.  Nature 
is  made  to  express,  by  her  fields,  her  forests,  her  mountains,  seas, 
and  rivers,  sublime  religious  truths."  "The  promise  of  Christ's 
dominion  over  the  nation  is  another  of  these  divine  symbols  that 
embodies  the  history  of  ages." — "  The  prophetic  symbols  of  the 
Bible  are,  perhaps,  most  beautiful,  sublime,  and  mysterious." 
"  The  great  Teacher  employed  symbols,  because  lie  could  thereby 
more  fully  convey  his  thoughts  to  men.  .  .  The  apostles  do  not, 
in  thek  epistles,  imitate  our  Lord,  but  they  do  expound  and  apply 
the  Old  Testament  symbols"— Presbyterian  Quarterly  Review  for 
April,  1862, 


The  Sacred  Scriptur^e. 


115 


other,  so  the  literal  and  spiritual  senses  of  the 
Word  are  united  in  like  manner, — the  former 
being  the  appropriate  receptacle  or  Divine  medium 
of  the  latter. 

The  idea  of  a  spiritual  sense  in  every  part  of 
the  Scripture,  was  not  original  with  Swedenborg. 
It  was  the  generally  received  doctrine  of  the 
Primitive  Church — believed  and  taught  by  Origen, 
Ignatius,  Justin  Martyr,  Jerome,  Augustine, 
Pantaenus,  Tatian,  Theophilus,  Pamphilius,  Clem- 
ens and  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  and  nearly  all  the 
early  Christian  Fathers.  And  the  same  belief 
has  been  held  by  many  eminent  theologians  ever 
since.  Dr.  Mosheim,  speaking  of  the  illustrious 
writers  of  the  second  century,  says :  "  They  all 
attributed  a  double  sense  to  the  words  of  Scripture ; 
the  one  obvious  and  literal,  the  other  hidden  and 
mysterious,  which  lay  concealed,  as  it  were,  under 
the  veil  of  the  outward  letter."  But  the  Fathers 
had  no  recognized  rule  for  eliciting  the  spiritual 
sense.  Each  one's  own  fancy  or  spiritual  percep- 
tion was  his  only  guide.  A  hundred  different 
expositors,  therefore,  might  give  as  many  differ- 
ent expositions  of  the  same  text. 

The  Key  for  Opening  the  Scriptures. 

But  the  Key  to  the  deeper  and  heavenly  mean- 
ing of  Scripture  has  now  been  revealed  (so  it  is 
believed  and  claimed),  for  the  use  of  all  who  de- 


116     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

sire  to  see  and  to  feast  their  souls  on  the  abundant 
riches  of  God's  Word.  This  Key  is  the  science 
or  doctrine  of  correspondence — the  fixed  and  un- 
alterable relation  existing  between  the  spiritual 
and  the  natural,  or  between  the  internal  and  ex- 
ternal. This  doctrine  is  not,  as  some  suppose,  a 
pretty  conceit  or  mere  human  invention,  but  has 
its  foundation  in  the  very  constitution  of  things, 
and  is  exact  as  the  science  of  mathematics.  This 
is  the  grand  key  for  opening  the  spiritual  and  true 
meaning  of  the  Bible.  And  every  one  who  is 
suflBciently  familiar  with  this  key,  may  apply  it 
for  himself.  A  hundred  different  expositors,  there- 
fore, equally  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  key,  will 
arrive  at  substantially  the  same  spiritual  sense  of 
any  given  text;  just  as  a  hundred  different  trans- 
lators, equally  versed  in  the  original  languages  of 
the  Bible,  will  give  substantially  the  same  render- 
ing of  the  same  text.  So  that  there  is  little  room 
for  the  play  of  one's  fancy.  Fancy  may,  indeed, 
provide  the  dress  for  the  spiritual  sense.  It  may 
array  it  in  apparel  more  or  less  beautiful  and  at- 
tractive. But  it  has  as  little  to  do  with  the  sub- 
stance of  that  sense  as  it  has  with  the  rendering 
of  Greek  or  Hebrew  into  English,  or  with  the 
results  of  a  chemical  experiment. 

According  to  the  teaching  of  the  New  Church, 
then,  the  Scripture  is  divine  throughout ;  divine  to 
the  very  ultimates  ;  divine  in  its  structure  as  well 


The  Sacred  Scripture. 


117 


as  in  its  substance.  It  differs  from  all  human  pro- 
ductions in  the  style  of  its  composition,  as  well 
as  in  the  nature  of  its  contents.  It  infinitely 
transcends  them  all,  as  the  works  of  God  infi- 
nitely transcend  the  works  of  man.  And  as  in  na- 
ture the  greatest  wonders  are  not  obvious  at  first 
view — lie  never  upon  the  outside — but  the  farther 
we  penetrate  into  the  interior  structure  of  God's 
works,  the  more  wonderful  and  perfect  do  we  find 
them,  so  precisely  is  it  with  the  written  Word. 

According  to  this  teaching,  therefore,  God's 
Word  is  literally  what  the  apostle  declares  all 
inspired  Scripture  to  be  —  theopneustos — God- 
breathed.  It  is  so  constructed  that  the  Divine 
can  dwell  in  it  in  all  fulness,  as  in  seeds  and 
germs  and  all  things  else  in  the  realms  of  Na- 
ture. It  is  this,  pre-eminently,  which  stamps  it 
with  the  impress  of  Divinity.  It  is  this  which 
makes  it  God's  Word,  and  a  Divine  medium  of 
man's  conjunction  with  his  Maker.  It  is  this 
which  gives  it  its  quickening  and  transforming 
power — a  power  over  the  human  heart  which  no 
uninspired  word,  no  utterance  of  human  wit  or  wis- 
dom however  exalted,  ever  had  or  ever  can  have. 

Illustrations  and  Confirmations, 

But  although  the  Word  is  spiritual  in  its  na- 
ture, being  given  exclusively  for  man's  spiritual 
edification — although  it  contains  a  spiritual  sense 


118    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


throughout,  the  JsTew  Church  does  not  believe  or 
teach  that  only  those  who  accept  this  doctrine  and 
who  understand  the  science  of  correspondence,  can 
receive  spiritual  instruction  from  the  Word.  Swe- 
denborg  teaches  nothing  of  this  sort.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  teaches  that  the  spiritual  meaning  of 
many  parts  of  the  Word — and  these  the  most  es- 
sential parts — is  sufficiently  obvious  to  all  minds. 
The  cloud  of  the  letter  in  many  places  is  so  thin, 
that  the  light  of  the  spiritual  sense  shines  through. 
Thus  he  says : 

"  The  Word  in  its  literal  sense  is  like  a  man 
clothed,  whose  face  and  hands  are  naked.  Every- 
thing in  the  Word  necessary  to  a  man's  faith  and 
life  and  also  to  his  salvation,  is  naked ;  but  the 
rest  is  clothed ;  and  in  many  places  where  it  is 
clothed,  it  [the  genuine  spiritual  truth]  is  visible 
through  the  clothing,  as  objects  are  seen  through 
a  veil  of  thin  silk."  (D.  S.  S.  n.  229.) 

Thus-  all  have  an  intuitive  perception  of  the 
correspondence  and  spiritual  signification  of  many 
things.  Consequently  all  have  a  perception  of 
the  spiritual  meaning  of  many  portions  of  the  Di- 
vine Word. 

For  example:  When  our  Saviour  says:  **I  am 
the  light  of  the  World,"  Christians  generally  do 
not  think  of  natural  light,  but  of  that  to  which 
the  natural  corresponds — the  light  of  divine  truth. 
When  He  says:     I  am  that  bread  of  life,"  most 


The  Sacred  Sc^'ipture. 


119 


Christians  perceive  that  He  is  speaking  of  spir- 
itual bread  and  spiritual  life — the  correspondents 
of  the  natural.  When  He  says:  "He  that  eateth 
me,  even  he  shall  live  by  me,"  few  understand 
Him  to  speak  of  natural  eating  or  living,  but 
nearly  every  one  thinks  of  the  spiritual  things  to 
which  such  natural  acts  correspond.  When  He 
says:  "If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  to  me  and 
drink,"  what  Christian  thinks  of  natural  thirst  or 
natural  drinking,  or  of  any  movement  of  the  body 
through  natural  space  ?  Nearly  every  oue  thinks 
of  the  soul's  thirst  for  the  water  of  life,  which 
only  He  can  slake  who  is  the  Fountain  of  living 
waters, — the  very  thing  signified,  according  to 
the  revealed  law  of  correspondence.  When  He 
says :  "  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my 
blood,  dwelleth  in  me  and  I  in  him,"  probably 
very  few  think  of  material  flesh  and  blood,  or  of 
natural  eating  and  drinking,  but  of  the  Lord's 
own  truth  and  love — his  divine-human  virtues 
and  graces,  and  their  reception  or  incorporation 
into  the  spirit's  life.  When  He  says  :  "  Except  a 
man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God,"  do  not  all  Christians  perceive  that  He  re- 
fers to  a  spiritual  birth,  a  spiritual  kingdom,  and 
spiritual  seeing  ?  Yes — and  that  He  means  by 
man,  not  the  material  and  perishable,  but  the  sub- 
stantial and  immortal  part — the  soul  or  spirit 
which  is  the  real  man  ?    And  when  (as  in  the 


120    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


Apocalypse)  the  Holy  City  New  Jerusalem  is 
spoken  of  as  "coming  down  from  God  out  of 
heaven, probably  not  many  Christians  nowa- 
days think  of  the  descent  through  actual  space  of 
any  such  city  as  is  described  in  the  literal  sense. 
Most  persons  perceive  that  something  spiritual 
and  heavenly  is  there  referred  to,  though  they 
may  not  see  precisely  what  it  is. 

All,  therefore,  have  a  pretty  clear  perception 
of  the  correspondence  of  some  things,  and  conse- 
quently have  some  perception  of  the  spiritual 
sense  of  God's  Word.  And  the  measure  of  that 
perception  with  each  one  will  depend  on  the  purity 
of  his  heart  and  the  innocence  of  his  life,  or  on  the 
sincerity  and  strength  of  his  desire  to  know,  and 
his  purpose  to  do,  the  will  of  the  Heavenly  Father.* 


XIII. — Apparent  and  Real  Truths  of 
Scripture. 

The  Volume  of  Revelation,  like  the  volume  of 
nature,  abounds  in  the  mere  appearances  of  truth. 

*  For  evidence,  both  rational  and  Scriptural,  of  the  truth  of  the 
New  Church  doctrine,  briefly  outlined  here,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  an  exhaustive  treatise  on  "The  Science  of  Correspondences 
elucidated,"  by  Rev.  EdAvard  Madeley ;  also  to  "  The  Plenary  In- 
spiration of  the  Scriptures,"  by  Rev.  S.  Noble :  "  The  Bible :  its  true 
character  and  spiritual  meaning,"  by  Rev.  L.  P.  Mercer  (being  No. 
4  of  this  series) ;  and  to  Lectures  iv.,  v.,  vi.  and  vii.  of  Barrett's  "  Lec- 
tures on  the  New  Dispensation." 


Apparent  and  Real  Trutlis.  121 


These  are  very  different  from  the  real  truths  which 
underlie  such  appearances,  and  which  require  for 
their  discernment  the  faithful  exercise  of  our  best 
faculties.  The  most  unreasonable  and  absurd  doc- 
trines find  some  support  from  the  letter  of  Scrip- 
ture interpreted  without  the  light  of  reason,  or  in 
the  way  the  natural  man  is  ever  inclined  to  inter- 
pret it.  All  the  numerous  errors  and  corruptions 
which  have  crept  into  the  church,  have  sprung 
from  a  too  literal  interpretation  of  Scripture,  or 
from  neglecting  to  exercise  the  reason  and  under- 
standing, and  so  failing  to  discover  its  spirit,  or 
the  deeper  meaning  which  lies  wrapped  up  in  the 
letter.  Accordingly  Swedenborg — after  telling 
us  that  there  is  a  correspondence  between  natural 
and  spiritual  things  like  that  between  body  and 
soul,  and  that  the  Sacred  Scripture  contains  a 
spiritual  as  well  as  a  natural  sense  throughout, 
which  cannot  be  discerned  without  the  exercise 
of  the  rational  understanding — says : 

"  Now  since  the  Word  [or  Sacred  Scripture]  is 
of  such  a  nature,  the  appearances  of  truth,  which 
are  truths  clothed,  may  be  taken  for  naked  truths; 
and  such  appearances  when  confirmed,  become 
falsities.  Yet  this  is  done  by  those  who  believe 
themselves  to  be  superior  to  others  in  wisdom, 
when  yet  they  are  not  wise ;  for  wisdom  consists 
in  seeing  whether  a  thing  be  true  before  it  is  con- 
firmed, but  not  in  confirming  whatever  one  pleases. 
.  .  .  The  former  is  the  case  with  those  who  love 
11 


122    The  Doctrines  of  the  Xeiv  Church. 


truths  and  are  affected  by  them  because  they  are 
truths,  and  who  apply  them  to  the  purposes  of 
life.  Such  persons  are  enlightened  of  the  Lord, 
and  see  truths  by  the  light  of  truth. 

"All  the  heresies  which  ever  did  or  do  still  ex- 
ist in  Christendom,  have  sprung  from  this  circum- 
stance :  that  men  have  taken  appearances  of  truth 
[such  as  are  found  in  the  letter  of  the  Word]  for 
genuine  truths,  and  as  such  have  confirmed  them. 
.  .  .  And  when  a  man  has  confirmed  himself  in 
what  is  false,  it  is  as  if  he  had  sworn  to  maintain 
it ;  especially  if  self-love  or  the  pride  of  his  own 
understanding  be  engaged  in  its  favor."  (D.  S. 
S.  91,  92.) 

It  is  known  to  all  who  read  the  Bible,  that  the 
dispositions,  feelings  and  passions  of  unregenerate 
men,  are  not  unfrequently  attributed  to  God  in 
the  letter  of  Scripture.  He  is  said  to  be  angry, 
jealous  and  revengeful ;  to  hate,  punish,  tempt 
and  cast  into  hell.  And  such  is  the  apparent  but 
not  the  real  truth.  The  real  truth  is  quite  the 
reverse  of  this  appearance.  It  is,  that  God  is 
love,  mercy  and  forgiveness,  and  that  He  cannot 
hate  or  punish  any  one.  The  reason  that  He  some- 
times appears  to  be  and  to  do  as  the  letter  repre- 
sents, is  because  of  the  anger,  hatred,  revenge,  and 
the  like,  in  unregenerate  hearts ;  for  every  one 
sees  God  from  and  according  to  his  own  state. 
His  appearance,  therefore,  is  in  perfect  correspond- 
ence with  the  states  of  those  to  whom  He  essays 
to  reveal  Himself.    To  the  supremely  selfish  heart 


Apparent  and  Real  Truths.  123 


the  Di\nne  Being  must  ever  appear  the  opposite 
of  what  He  really  is.  The  appearance  is  a  true 
appearance,  resulting  from  the  opposite  state  in 
and  from  which  He  is  viewed. 

We  have  in  the  realm  of  nature  many  such  ap- 
pearances of  truth,  which  are  very  different  from 
the  real  truth.  Yet  we  continue  to  speak  accord- 
ing to  the  appearance,  even  after  it  is  known  that 
the  language  we  employ  does  not  express  the  real 
but  only  the  apparent  truth.  For  example,  we 
say  that  the  sun  rises  in  the  morning  and  goes 
down  in  the  evening.  Yet  we  know  that  this 
is  a  fallacy,  and  that  such  language,  literally  in- 
terpreted, conveys  an  idea  quite  foreign  to  the 
real  truth.  Our  reason,  along  with  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  solar  system,  enables  us  to  correct 
this  sensuous  appearance,  and  to  see  that  this 
apparent  upward  and  downward  movement  of 
the  sun,  is  caused  by  our  own  and  not  by  the 
sun's  motion — that  is,  by  the  diurnal  revolution 
of  the  earth  on  its  axis. 

And  the  universe  is  full  of  such  fallacious  ap- 
pearances, which  are  gradually  dissipated  as  the 
knowledge  of  its  laws  increases.  But  this  can  be 
effected  only  through  the  faithful  exercise  of  the 
reason  that  God  has  given  us.  And  why  should 
there  not  be  the  same  fallacious  appearances  in  the 
Word  as  in  the  works  of  God  ? — appearances  that 
can  only  be  dissipated  by  an  increase  of  spiritual 


124    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


knowledge,  or  a  better  understanding  of  spiritual 
laws,  which  may  be  gained  from  revelation  and 
'   the  faithful  exercise  of  our  higher  season. 


XIY. — Religion. 

What  is  religion  ?  Few  subjects,  perhaps,  have 
been  more  misunderstood,  even  by  professing 
Christians,  than  this.  Some  have  supposed  it  to 
consist  in  oral  prayers  and  penitential  sighs ;  others, 
in  certain  rites  and  ceremonies  solemnly  and  rev- 
erently performed  at  stated  times ;  others,  in  fast- 
ings, flagellations,  and  other  bodily  sufferings,either 
self-inflicted  or  imposed  by  ecclesiastical  author- 
ity ;  others,  in  indiscriminate  alms-giving  and  lib- 
eral endowments  of  religious  institutions  ;  others, 
in  a  certain  system  of  religious  belief,  and  a  cer- 
tain form  of  religious  worship ;  others,  in  retiring 
from  the  world,  renouncing  its  pleasures,  cares  and 
pursuits,  and  giving  one's  self  up  to  a  ceaseless 
round  of  solemn  services. 

But  very  different  from  all  this  is  the  teaching 
of  the  New  Church  respecting  religion.  Our  illu- 
mined expositor  says:  "All  religion  has  relation 
to  life;  and  the  life  of  religion  is  to  do  good."  (D. 
Life,n.  1.)  And  throughout  his  writings  he  teaches 
that  the  true  religion — while  not  rejecting  forms 
and  ordinances  and  external  worship,  but  using 


Religion, 


125 


them  as  a  means  of  its  development  and  growth — 
consists  essentially  in  righteousness  of  life,  in  do- 
ing justly,  loving  mercy  and  walking  humbly  with 
God.  He  insists  that  the  truly  religious  life  is  the 
life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  manifesting  itself  in 
all  the  transactions  and  relations  of  life  ;  and  that 
this  life  is  best  developed,  not  in  the  cloister  nor 
away  from  the  business  and  turmoil  of  the  world,  ' 
but  in  the  midst  of  its  cares,  duties,  temptations  and 
trials ;  that  we  become  more  and  more  religious 
in  the  true  sense  of  this  word,  in  the  degree  that 
we  look  to  the  Lord  for  light  and  guidance,  and 
endeavor  to  perform  all  our  duties  honestly  and 
well  as  He  would  have  us ;— try  to  carry  a  self- 
denying,  righteous  and  loving  spirit  into  all  the 
common  labors  and  trials  and  transactions  of  life. 
Performing  all  our  common  every-day  duties 
faithfully,  honestly,  conscientiously,  and  in  the 
spirit  of  true  neighborly  love — at  the  same  time 
inwardly  and  humbly  acknowledging  that  it  is  the 
Lord  who  gives  us  the  power  and  the  disposition 
thus  to  live  and  act — this,  according  to  the  belief 
and  teaching  of  the  New  Church,  is  living  a  re- 
ligious life.  This  is  the  true  religion — the  religion 
of  heaven  itself 

The  following  are  some  of  the  things  which 
Swedenborg  says  he  learned  on  this  subject  from 
his  intercourse  with  spirits  in  the  other  world : 

"  I  have  been  permitted  to  converse  with  some 
11* 


126    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


in  the  other  life,  who  had  withdrawn  themselves 
from  the  business  of  the  world,  that  they  might 
live  a  pious  and  holy  life ;  and  with  others  also 
who  had  afflicted  themselves  in  various  ways,  be- 
cause they  imagined  that  this  was  to  renounce  the 
world  and  to  subdue  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  But 
the  greater  portion  of  them, — having  by  such  aus- 
terities contracted  a  sorrowful  life,  and  removed 
^themselves  from  the  life  of  charity  which  can  only 
be  lived  in  the  world, — cannot  be  associated  with 
angels,  because  the  life  of  the  angels  is  one  of  glad- 
ness resulting  froQi  bliss,  and  consists  in  perform- 
ing deeds  of  goodness  which  are  works  of  charity. 

"Besides,  they  who  have  led  a  life  withdrawn 
from  worldly  affairs,  are  possessed  with  the  idea 
of  their  own  merit;  and  are  thence  continually 
desirous  of  being  admitted  into  heaven,  and  think 
of  heavenly  joy  as  a  reward,  being  totally  igno- 
rant of  what  heavenly  joy  is.  And  when  they 
are  admitted  among  the  angels,  and  to  a  percep- 
tion of  their  joy  which  is  without  the  thought  of 
merit,  and  consists  in  active  duties  and  services 
openly  performed,  and  in  the  blessedness  arising 
from  the  good  which  they  thereby  promote,  they 
are  astonished  like  persons  who  witness  things 
altogether  foreign  to  their  expectation.  And 
because  they  are  not  receptible  of  that  joy,  they 
depart  and  associate  with  spirits  like  themselves, 
who  have  lived  a  similar  life  in  the  world.  .  .  . 

"  These  statements  are  made  in  order  that  it 
maybe  known,  that  the  life  which  leads  to  heaven 
is  not  a  life  of  retirement  from  the  world,  but  of 
action  in  the  world ;  and  that  a  life  of  piety,  with- 
out a  life  of  charity  which  can  only  be  acquired  in 
the  world,  does  not  lead  to  heaven,  but  a  life  of 


Religion, 


127 


charity  does ;  and  this  consists  in  acting  sincerely 
and  justly  in  every  occupation,  in  every  transac- 
tion, and  in  every  work,  from  an  interior  and 
thus  from  a  heavenly  origin ;  and  such  origin  is 
inherent  in  such  a  life  when  a  man  acts  sincerely 
and  justly  because  it  is  according  to  the  Divine 
laws.  Such  a  life  is  not  difficult;  but  a  life  of 
piety  separate  from  a  life  of  charity,  is  difficult; 
yet  this  life  leads  away  from  heaven,  as  much  as 
it  is  believed  to  lead  to  it."    (H.  H.  n.  535.) 

The  Essential  Thing  in  Religion, 

The  New  Church  believes  and  teaches  that  love 
to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor  is  the  essential  thing 
in  heaven  and  the  church ;  that  the  degree  of 
heavenly  life,  and  consequent  happiness,  in  any 
individual,  depends  on  the  degree  in  which  this 
love  is  developed  or  received  (for  man  is  only  a  re- 
cipient subject),  and  the  measure  of  its  intensity. 
Love  is  life ;  and  the  stronger  and  more  disinter- 
ested the  love,  the  nobler  and  more  exalted  is  the 
life — the  nearer  does  the  individual  approach  to 
the  moral  likeness  of  God  himself,  and  the  sweeter 
and  more  abundant  his  spiritual  joy. 

The  great  end  of  all  God's  dealings  with  us — 
the  end  of  all  his  chastisements  as  well  as  his 
blessings — the  end  for  which  He  reveals  to  us  the 
laws  of  the  soul's  higher  life — is,  to  develop  with- 
in us  a  heavenly  character — a  pure  and  unselfish 
love  ; — to  re-create  us  in  his  own  Divine  likeness. 


128    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

Truth,  indeed,  is  important,  but  only  as  a  means 
to  this  great  end ;  and  the  higher  and  purer  the 
truth  we  accept,  the  higher  and  more  blessed  the 
state  of  life  to  which  we  may  attain — shall  attain 
if  we  religiously  obey  the  truth. 

But  religious  truth,  according  to  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Church — no  matter  how  pure,  exalt- 
ed, or  abundant  it  be — is  of  no  advantage  to  the 
receiver,  unless  he  make  it  the  means  of  restrain- 
ing and  overcoming  in  himself  his  selfish  and  in- 
fernal propensities,  and  developing  the  higher  and 
nobler  life;' and  this  he  does  only  by  faithfully  liv- 
ing or  doing  the  truth — following  whithersoever 
it  points  the  way,  and  shunning,  as  a  sin  against 
God,  whatever  evil  the  truth  condemns.  Hun- 
dreds of  passages  confirmatory  of  this,  might  be 
quoted  from  the  writings  of  Swedenborg;  but 
three  or  four  brief  extracts  will  serve  for  illustra- 
tion. Bear  in  mind  that  every  one's  character 
is  according  to  the  state  of  his  heart  or  the  nature 
of  his  dominant  love — the  ruling  purpose  of  his  life, 

"Charity  constitutes  the  church,  and  not  faith 
separate  from  charitv."  (A.  C.  n.  3121.  See  also 
n.  809,  916,  1798,  1799,  1834,  1844,  2190,  2228, 
2442.)  And  Genuine  charity  is  to  believe  in  the 
Lord,  and  to  act  justly  and  rightly  in  every  em- 
ployment and  office.  That  man,  therefore,  who 
from  the  Lord  loves  justice  and  practices  it  with 
judii'ment,  is  charity  in  its  image  and  likeness." 
(T.  C.  R.  n.  449.) 


Religion. 


129 


"  Every  man's  character  is  known  from  his 
[dominant]  love ;  for  love  is  the  esse  of  every- 
one's life,  the  veriest  life  itself  deriving  its  exist- 
ence from  it.  The  man,  therefore,  is  such  as  is 
the  nature  of  the  love  which  rules  in  him.  If  it 
be  the  love  of  self  and  the  world,  and  consequently 
of  revenge,  hatred,  cruelty,  adultery  and  the  like, 
the  man  as  to  his  spirit,  or  the  interior  man  that 
lives  after  death,  is  a  devil,  whatever  be  his  out- 
ward appearance.  But  if  his  prevailing  love  be 
the  love  of  God  and  the  neighbor,  and  conse- 
quently the  love  of  goodness  and  truth,  also  of 
justice  and  honesty,  he,  whatever  be  his  outward 
appearance,  is  an  angel  as  to  his  spirit  that  lives 
after  death."  (A.  C.  n.  68t2.  See  also  n.  379,  33, 
10,284.    Ap.  Ex.  n.  251.) 

"It  is  of  no  advantage  to  a  man  to  know  much 
unless  he  lives  according  to  what  he  knows.  For 
knowledge  has  no  other  end  than  goodness ;  and 
he  who  is  made  good  [that  is,  pure  and  unselfish 
in  his  character]  is  in  possession  of  a  far  richer 
treasure  than  he  whose  knowledge  is  the  most 
extensive,  and  yet  is  destitute  of  goodness;  for 
what  the  latter  is  seeking  by  his  great  acquire- 
ments, the  former  already  possesses.  .  .  .  They 
who  know  little,  but  have  a  conscience  [or  who 
follow  the  little  light  they  have],  become  enlight- 
ened in  the  other  world  even  so  as  to  become 
angels ;  and  then  their  wisdom  and  intelligence 
are  inexpressible."    (A.  C.  n.  1100.) 

A  man's  character,  therefore,  or  his  spiritual 
nearness  to  God,  depends  not  so  much  on  what 
he  understands,  thinks  or  believes,  as  on  the  kind 
and  degree  of  his  love — the  state  of  his  heart,  or 
I 


130    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


the  ruling  purpose  of  his  life ;  and  this,  again, 
depends  on  the  measure  of  his  fideh'ty  to  duty,  or 
the  degree  of  his  obedience  to  all  known  truth. 

So  often  is  the  supreme  importance  of  right 
living,  or  religious  obedience  to  all  the  known 
laws  of  heavenly  charity,  insisted  on  by  Sweden- 
borg,  and  the  relative  insignificance  of  everything 
else,  that  it  would  be  easy  to  fill  a  volume  with 
passages  similar  to  those  here  cited. 

Reason  in  Religion. 

Prior  to  Swedenborg's  time,  it  was  an  estab- 
lished tenet  in  all  the  churches  of  Christendom, 
that  religious  doctrines  were  not  to  be  scrutinized 
by  the  eye  of  reason  ;  that  they  (some  of  them  at 
least)  were  profound  mysteries  which  people  must 
not  expect  to  understand,  and  should  not,  there- 
fore, "pry  into;"  that  they  were  to  be  accepted 
blindly,  not  rationally  ;  that,  in  such  matters  the 
understanding  was  to  be  held  in  complete  subjec- 
tion to  faith.  And  there  was  good  reason  for 
this ;  for  the  generally  accepted  beliefs  of  that  day, 
were  not  such  as  would  stand  the  test  of  rational 
examination.  Therefore  it  became  the  habit  of 
religious  teachers,  when  closely  questioned  about 
their  doctrines,  to  deny  the  lawfulness  or  propri- 
ety of  exercising  one's  reason  in  matters  of  re- 
ligious belief,  and  to  seek  shelter  behind  that 
much  abused  but  very  convenient  word,  mystery. 


Religion. 


131 


Swedenborg  lays  the  axe  at  the  root  of  this 
pernicious  tree.  He  announces  himself  as  the 
herald  of  a  New  Dispensation — a  dispensation  of 
rational  religious  truth;  and  throughout  his  writ- 
ings he  insists  on  the  freest  and  most  faithful  ex- 
ercise of  the  understanding  in  matters  of  faith. 
He  repudiates,  as  a  false  and  pernicious  dogma, 
the  prevalent  idea  of  his  day,  that  religious  doc- 
trines were  not  to  be  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of 
reason,  or  brought  within  the  grasp  of  the  intel- 
lect ;  and  insists  that  spiritual  truth  should  be 
seen,  or  received  rationally.  Speaking  of  the  New 
Church  whose  dawn  he  heralded,  and  whose  doc- 
trines he  claims  to  have  been  specially  commis- 
sioned to  reveal,  he  says  : 

"  In  the  New  Church  this  tenet,  that  the  under- 
standing must  be  kept  in  subjection  to  faith,  is  to 
be  rejected ;  and  in  place  of  it  this  is  to  he  re- 
ceived as  a  maxim,  that  the  truth  of  the  church 
should  be  seen  before  it  is  received ;  and  truth 
cannot  be  seen  otherwise  than  rationally.  .  .  . 
Who  can  acknowledge  truth  and  retain  it  unless 
he  sees  it  ?  And  what  is  truth  not  seen  but  a 
voice  not  understood?"  (A.  R.  n.  564.) 

And  everywhere  throughout  his  writings  he  in- 
sists on  the  importance  of  receiving  truth  ration- 
ally;  that  is,  of  exercising  our  reason  on  what- 
ever is  presented  us  for  religious  truth,  or  of  see- 
ing it  with  the  eye  of  the  mind  before  we  accept 


132    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


it.  And  he  declares  that  a  blind  belief  is  danger- 
ous, and  unworthy  to  be  called  a  belief. 

"Shut  people's  eyes,"  he  says,  "stop  their  ears, 
that  is,  induce  them  not  to  think  from  any  under- 
standing, and  then  tell  those  impressed  with  some 
idea  of  eternal  life  whatever  you  will,  and  they 
w^'ll  believe  it ;  yes,  even  if  you  should  tell  them 
that  God  can  be  angry  and  breathe  vengeance ; 
that  He  can  inflict  eternal  damnation  upon  any 
one  ;  that  He  requires  to  be  moved  to  pity  by  his 
own  Son's  blood ;  .  .  .  with  other  like  extrava- 
gances. But  open  your  eyes  and  unstop  your 
ears,  that  is,  think  of  these  things  from  your  un- 
derstanding, and  you  will  straightway  see  their 
utter  disagreement  with  the  truth."  (D.  F.  n.  46.) 

He  says  that  no  one  in  heaven  accepts  for  truth 
anything  which  seems  to  him  unreasonable,  or 
which  does  not  satisfy  the  demands  of  his  intel- 
lect. 

"All  in  heaven  see  truths  with  the  understand- 
ing, and  so  receive  them  [that  is,  rationally]  ;  but 
what  they  do  not  see  with  the  understanding,  they 
do  not  receive.  And  if  any  one  says  to  them  that 
they  must  have  faith,  although  they  neither  see 
nor  understand,  they  turn  away,  saying:  How  is 
that  possible  ?  What  I  see  or  understand;  I  be- 
lieve ;  but  I  cannot  believe  what  I  do  not  see  nor 
understand."  (Ap.  Ex.  n.  239.  See  also  D.  P. 
n.  ^73-88.  A.  R.  564,  914.  Ap.  Ex.  1100,  232, 
242,  759.    D.  F.  46,  '7,  '8.    A.  C.  5432.) 

And  throughout  his  theological  writings  this 
illumined  teacher  vindicates  the  claims  of  reason, 


Religion,  133 

and  insists  on  the  faithful  exercise  of  the  under- 
standing in  all  our  religious  inquiries.  The  New 
Church  therefore  repudiates  and  condemns  the  old 
dogma  that  we  are  to  believe  blindly,  or  that,  in 
religious  matters,  the  understanding  is  to  be  held 
in  servile  subjection  to  faith.  And  while  it  never 
exalts  human  reason  above  Divine  revelation,  it 
Inculcates,  as  an  imperative  duty,  the  free  and 
faithful  exercise  of  our  rational  faculties  upon 
whatever  claims  to  be  such  revelation,  and  coun- 
sels us  to  accept  for  religious  truth  nothing  against 
which  our  reason  revolts,  or  which  fails  to  com- 
mend itself  to  our  rational  intuitions. 

Religion  without  Asceticism, 

Prior  to  the  year  1757,  asceticism  was,  in  the 
popular  mind,  intimately  connected  with  religion, 
and  was  looked  upon  by  multitudes  of  profess- 
ing Christians  as  forming  a  very  considerable  part 
of  it.  Religion  was  held  to  be  something  quite  in- 
compatible with  any  sort  of  indulgence  in  worldly 
pleasures,  and  more  closely  allied  to  austerity  and 
gloom  than  to  cheerfulness  and  joy.  All  kinds 
of  amusements — even  dancing  and  the  drama — 
were  held  to  be  positively  sinful,  and  unfit,  there- 
fore, for  religious  people  to  indulge  in. 

But  the  New  Church  teaches  a  different  doc- 
trine on  this,  as  on  all  other  subjects.  It  believes 
and  teaches  that  the  loves  of  self  and  the  world 
12 


134     TJie  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

are  the  ruling-  loves  of  the  natural  or  unregener- 
ate  man ;  while,  in  the  truly  human  or  regenerate 
state,  the  opposite  loves — that  is,  love  of  the 
Lord  and  love  of  the  neighbor — bear  rule.  It 
teaches  further,  that  the  whole  work  of  regenera- 
tion consists,  not  in  uprooting  or  extinguishing 
these  natural  loves,  but  in  bringing  them  into  a 
state  of  due  subjection  and  subordination  to  the 
higher  and  truly  human  loves.  Christianity, 
therefore,  as  understood  in  this  Church  and  in- 
terpreted by  its  authorized  teachings,  inculcates 
purity,  holiness  and  righteousness,  without  aus- 
terity or  asceticism.  It  inculcates  a  reverent  re- 
gard for  our  whole  nature,  the  lower  as  weU  as 
the  higher.  It  teaches  that  all  our  appetites  and 
natural  desires — our  love  of  knowledge,  love  of 
wealth,  love  of  amusement,  love  of  pleasure,  honor, 
reputation,  power — are  good  and  useful  in  their 
proper  place ;  and  are  not,  therefore,  to  be  extin- 
guished, but  to  be  brought  into  complete  subjec- 
tion to  the  higher  and  truly  human  loves.  It  holds 
that  these  are  all  good  and  useful  as  servants,  but 
tyrannous  and  cruel  as  masters.  And  not  only 
so,  but  that  natural  delights  become  more  and 
more  delightful  as  the  higher  motive  or  spiritual 
affection — love  of  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor — 
enters  into  and  vitalizes  them.  To  cite  one  or  two 
passages  in  confirmation  of  this  from  the  author- 
ized teachings  of  this  Church  : 

/ 


Religion. 


135 


"  It  is  well  to  observe  that  the  man  who  is  re- 
generated is  not  deprived  of  the  delight  of  pleas- 
ures of  the  body  or  the  mind ;  for  this  delight  he 
enjoys  fully  after  regeneration,  even  more  fully 
than  before,  but  in  an  inverted  ratio.  The  delight 
of  pleasures  before  regeneration  was  the  all  of  his 
life ;  but  after  regeneration  the  good  of  charity 
becomes  the  all  of  his  life,  and  in  this  case  the  de- 
light of  pleasures  serves  as  a  means  and  an  ulti- 
mate plane,  in  which  spiritual  good  with  its  hap- 
piness and  blessedness  terminates.  When,  there- 
fore, the  order  is  to  be  inverted,  then  the  former 
delight  of  pleasures  expires  and  becomes  as  noth- 
ing, and  a  new  delight  from  a  spiritual  origin  is 
insinuated  in  its  place."  (A.  C.  n.  8413.) 

"  Some  suppose  that  whoever  desires  to  be 
happy  in  the  other  world  must  by  no  means  en- 
joy the  pleasures  of  the  body  and  sense,  but  must 
abstain  from  all  such  delights,  urging  in  favor  of 
this,  that  corporeal  and  worldly  pleasures  abstract 
and  detain  the  mind  from  spiritual  and  celestial 
life.  They  who  think  so,  however,  and  therefore 
voluntarily  give  themselves  up  to  wretchedness 
while  living  in  the  world,  are  not  aware  of  the 
real  truth. 

It  is  by  no  means  forbidden  any  one  to  enjoy 
corporeal  or  sensual  pleasures,  or  those  arising 
from  the  possession  of  lands,  money,  honors  and 
public  appointments;  those  of  conjugial  love  and 
love  of  infants  and  children,  of  friendship  and 
social  intercourse ;  the  pleasure  of  listening  to 
singing  and  music,  or  of  seeing  beautiful  things 
of  various  kinds,  such  as  handsome  apparel,  well- 
furnished  houses,  magnificent  gardens,  and  the 
like,  all  of  which  are  delightful  from  harmony ; 


136    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

the  pleasure  of  smelling  agreeable  odors,  of  tasting 
delicacies  and  useful  meats  and  drinks ;  and  the 
pleasure  of  touch ;  for  all  these  are  the  lowest  or 
corporeal  affections  which  have  their  origin  from 
those  which  are  interior.  Interior  affections  which 
are  living,  all  derive  their  delight  from  the  good 
and  the  true  ;  and  the  good  and  true  derive  theirs 
from  charity  and  faith,  and  these  come  from  the 
Lord,  consequently  from  the  very  essential  Life. 
Therefore  affections  and  pleasures  which  have  this 
origin  are  alive ;  and  if  genuine  or  from  this 
source,  they  are  never  denied  to  any  one.  When 
pleasures  are  thus  derived,  their  delight  exceeds 
indefinitely  that  from  every  other  origin."  (A.  C. 
n.  995.) 

^Y.—Free-  Will, 

The  freedom  of  the  human  will  has  been  a  sub- 
ject of  frequent  debate  and  much  angry  contro- 
versy among  Christians.  But  latterly  the  more 
thouo:htful  and  intelligent  of  all  denominations 
have  been  gradually  settling  down  in  the  belief 
of  the  ^s'ew  Church  doctrine  on  this  subject — most 
of  them,  probably,  without  the  knowledge  or  even 
suspicion  that  it  is  the  New  Church  doctrine ;  just 
as  they  have  been  gradually  sloughing  off  the  old 
dogmas  of  election,  reprobation,  infant  damnation, 
and  the  like,  and  accepting  something  more  ra- 
tional and  Scriptural  instead. 

But  at  the  time  when  Swedenborg  wrote,  the 


Free -Will. 


137 


generally  accepted  doctrine  on  this  subject  among 
Protestant  Christians  was,  that  man  is  utterly  des- 
titute of  free-will  in  spiritual  and  divine  things; 
that,  in  respect  to  the  things  which  regard  the 
souFs  salvation,  "  he  is  like  a  stock  or  a  stone,  or 
like  the  pillar  of  salt  into  which  Lot's  wife  was 
turned;"  that,  "before  conversion  man  is  a  ra- 
tional creature  who  has  understanding,  but  not 
in  divine  things ;  and  a  will,  but  not  such  that  he 
desires  any  saving  good.  Nevertheless,  he  can- 
not contribute  anything  to  his  own  salvation,  and 
in  this  respect  he  is  worse  than  a  stock  or  a  stone ;" 
that  "  in  conversion,  whereby  from  being  a  child 
of  wrath  he  becomes  a  child  of  grace,  man  does 
not  co-operate  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  since  the 
work  of  his  conversion  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
Spirit,"  which  "accomplishes  it  in  the  understand- 
ing, heart  and  will  of  man  as  in  a  passive  subject 
— the  man  doing  nothing  but  remain  passive." 

These  extracts  are  all  from  the  Formula  Con- 
cordiae,  which  contains  the  generally  accepted 
opinions  of  Protestant  Christendom  a  century 
and  a  quarter  ago.  And  their  teaching  is  seen  to 
be  quite  in  harmony  with  the  other  beliefs  then 
prevalent  in  the  Christian  church,  and  affords 
another  illustration  of  the  spiritual  darkness  in 
which  the  church  of  that  day  was  immersed,  and 
the  consequent  need  there  was  of  new  light  from 
on  High.  Now  contrast  this  old  and  once  preva- 
12* 


138     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

lent  belief  with  the  new  doctrine  as  received  and 
taught  in  the  Xew  Church. 

This  doctrine  is :  That  man  is  not  life,  but  only 
a  form  receptive  of  life  from  God,  who  alone  is 
Life  itself;  that  he  is  gifted  with  free-will  in  things 
spiritual  as  well  as  in  things  civil,  moral  and  nat- 
ural, and  is,  therefore,  free  to  choose  between  right 
and  wrong,  and  to  do  whichever  he  chooses ;  is  as 
free  to  look  to  and  obey  the  revealed  will  of  Grod, 
as  he  is  to  obey  the  civil  laws  which  constitute  the 
expressed  will  of  the  kingdom  or  state  ;  that  free- 
will is  an  essential  element  of  humanity,  and  with- 
out which  man  would  not  be  man  ;  that  it  is  the 
Lord's  continual  desire  that  man  should  become 
spiritual  by  voluntarily  receiving  from  Him  spir- 
itual truth  and  good — a  thing  which  would  be 
utterly  impossible  if  he  had  not  fi*ee-will  in  spii*- 
itual  things;  that  without  such  free-will  the  Word 
of  God  would  be  useless,  and  its  commands  to  be- 
lieve and  do  and  shun  certain  things,  would  be 
absurd  and  meaningless ;  that  there  could  be  no 
reciprocal  union  of  man  with  the  Lord  and  the 
Lord  with  man,  consequently  no  heaven  which 
is  the  result  of  such  union,  without  free-will  in 
spiritual  things ;  that  the  denial  of  such  free-will 
would  necessitate  the  impious  conclusion,  that 
God  himself,  and  not  man,  is  the  cause  of  evil ; 
that  God  is  in  the  perpetual  endeavor  to  re-create 
man  in  his  own  image  and  likeness,  but  cannot 


Free -mil. 


139 


do  it  without  man's  cooperation,  and  this  could 
not  be  given  if  man  had  no  free-will  in  spiritual 
things ;  that  only  the  good  which  a  man  freely 
chooses,  or  which  is  received  by  him  in  freedom, 
remains  as  a  permanent  possession ;  that  man's 
free-will  is  forever  held  inviolable,  and  forever 
guarded  by  the  Lord  as  his  most  precious  endow- 
ment, since  without  it  the  good  and  truth  of  char- 
ity and  faith  could  not  be  implanted  in  him,  nor 
heavenly  happiness  be  conferred.  We  are  perfectly 
free  to  choose  good  or  evil ;  but  when  we  do 
good,  while  we  do  it  as  of  ourselves,  yet  we  ought 
to  believe  and  acknowledge  that  it  is  the  Lord 
who  every  moment  gives  us  the  disposition  and 
power  to  do  it.    Swedenborg  says : 

"  Such  is  the  law  of  order,  that  man  ought  to 
do  good  as  of  himself,  and  not  hang  down  his 
hands  under  the  idea  that,  because  he  cannot  of 
himself  do  anything  that  is  good,  he  ought  to 
wait  for  immediate  influx  from  above,  and  so  re- 
main in  a  passive  state ;  for  this  is  contrary  to 
order.  But  he  ought  to  do  good  as  of  himself ; 
and  when  he  reflects  upon  the  good  that  he  does 
or  has  done,  he  should  think,  acknowledge  and 
believe  that  it  was  the  Lord  in  him  who  did  it. 
For  when  a  person  hangs  down  his  hands  under 
the  above-mentioned  idea,  he  is  not  a  subject  on 
which  the  Lord  can  operate,  since  He  cannot  op- 
erate by  influx  on  any  one  who  deprives  himself 
of  everything  into  which  the  requisite  power  can 
be  infused.  .  .  Man  does  not  live  from  himself; 


140    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


yet  UDless  he  appeared  to  himself  so  to  live,  he 
could  not  possibly  live  at  all."   (A.  C.  1712.) 


Xy  I . — Repentance. 

Most  Christians  at  the  present  day  will  scarcely 
credit  the  statement,  that,  in  Swedenborg's  time 
there  was  no  correct  understanding  of  the  Scrip- 
ture doctrine  of  repentance.  Yet  it  is  strictly 
true.  It  was  believed  to  consist  in  a  species  of 
anxiety  and  grief  called  contrition,  which  pre- 
ceded their  faith  in  those  about  to  be  regenerated, 
— a  terror  arising  from  fear  of  the  ^Tath  of  God 
and  eternal  damnation ;  and  that,  without  this 
contrition,  the  faith  which  attributes  to  man  the 
merit  and  righteousness  of  Christ,  could  not  be 
bestowed.  This  contrition,  accompanied  by  the 
mere  lip-confession  that  the  individual  was  "all 
mere  sin,  thereby  including  all  sins  and  exclud- 
ing none" — without  any  perception  or  acknowl- 
edgment of  any  particular  sins  in  himself — was 
thought  to  be  repentance.  Speaking  on  this  sub- 
ject in  his  last  great  work,  Swedenborg  says  : 

I  once  heard  a  man  praying  in  the  spiritual 
world  after  this  manner :  '  I  am  full  of  sores,  lep- 
rous, unclean,  from  my  mother's  womb.  There  is 
not  a  sound  spot  in  me  from  m}^  head  to  the  sole 
of  my  foot.  I  am  not  worthy  to  raise  my  eyes  to- 
ward God.    I  am  deserving  of  death  and  eternal 


Repentance, 


141 


damnation.  Have  mercy  upon  me  for  the  sake  of 
thy  Son.  Purify  me  in  his  blood.  On  thy  good 
pleasure  depends  the  salvation  of  all.  I  pray  for 
mercy.'  Hearing  him  pray  thus,  the  bystanders 
asked,  'How  do  you  know  that  you  are  of  such 
a  character  ? '  He  replied,  '  I  know  it  because  I 
have  heard  so.'  But  he  was  then  sent  to  the  an- 
gelic examiners,  before  whom  he  spoke  in  the 
same  way.  And  they,  after  examination,  report- 
ed that  he  had  spoken  the  truth  about  himself, 
but  that  still  he  did  not  know  of  one  single  evil 
that  was  within  him,  because  he  had  never  exam- 
ined himself,  and  had  believed  that  after  lip-con- 
fession evils  were  no  longer  evils  in  the  sight  of 
God,  both  because  God  turns  his  eyes  away  from 
them  and  because  He  has  been  propitiated.  And 
the  angels  said  that  therefore  he  had  not  come  to 
a  sense  of  any  of  his  evils,  although  he  had  been 
a  willful  adulterer,  a  thief,  a  wily  detractor  and 
intenselv  revena-eful,  and  was  still  such  in  heart 
and  will."   (T.^C.  R.  517.) 

So  foreign  from  the  truth  was  the  idea  con- 
cerning repentance,  which  this  individual  had  re- 
ceived from  the  church  of  his  day  while  he  was 
on  earth ! 

But  the  New  Church  teaches  a  different  doc- 
trine on  this  subject.  It  teaches  that  man  is  born 
with  an  inclination  (inherited  from  foregone  an- 
cestry) to  all  kinds  of  evil — the  proclivity  to  par- 
ticular kinds  varying  in  strength  with  different 
individuals.  And  unless  these  evils  are  overcome 
or  removed,  the  man  remains  in  them ;  and  they 


142    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


cannot  be  removed  without  repentance.  This  is 
the  first  step  in  the  regenerate  life.  And  the  be- 
ginning of  repentance  is  self-examination,  and 
the  consequent  recognition  and  acknowledgment 
of  particular  evils  in  one's  self,  that  need  to  be 
removed  before  their  opposite  heavenly  goods  can 
be  received.  And  when  the  evil  inclination  is  dis- 
covered, the  individual  should  acknowledge  it  be- 
fore the  Lord,  supplicate  Divine  assistance  in  its 
removal,  turn  from  it  as  from  the  fire  of  hell,  shun 
its  indulgence  as  a  sin  against  God,  and  begin 
a  new  life,  that  is,  should  seek  to  develop  and 
strengthen  in  himself  the  opposite  good  inclina- 
tion. And  not  only  must  we  examine  our  out- 
ward actions,  but  the  thought  and  intention  from 
which  the  actions  proceed,  if  we  would  perform 
true  repentance. 

"  As,  for  example,  when  a  man's  thought,  will 
and  intention  incline  him  to  revenge,  adultery, 
theft,  false-witness, — blasphemy  against  God,  the 
holy  Word,  the  church,  and  the  like ;  if  he  attends 
to  this,  and  inquires  whether  he  would  actually 
commit  these  evils  if  the  fear  of  the  law  and  for 
his  good  name  did  not  hinder ;  and  if,  after  this 
scrutiny,  he  decides  that  he  must  not  will  to  com- 
mit them  because  they  are  sins,  he  truly  and  in- 
teriorly repents.  .  .  .  He  who  does  this  repeat- 
edly, feels  the  delights  of  evil  when  they  return  as 
disagreeable,  and  finally  condemns  them  to  hell." 
(T.  C.  R.  563.) 

"He  who  would  be  saved,  must  confess  his  sins 


Regeneration, 


143 


and  do  the  work  of  repentance.  To  confess  sins 
is  to  know  evils,  to  see  them  in  one's  self,  to  ac- 
knowledge them,  to  make  himself  guilty,  and  con- 
demn himself  on  account  of  them.  When  this  is 
done  before  God,  it  constitutes  the  confession  of  sin. 

"To  do  the  work  of  repentance  is  to  desist  from 
sins  when  he  has  thus  confessed  them,  and  from  a 
humble  heart  has  made  supplication  about  remis- 
sion ;  and  further,  to  lead  a  new  life  according  to 
the  precepts  of  faith, 

"  He  who  only  acknowledges  in  a  general  way 
that  he  is  a  .  sinner,  and  makes  himself  guilty  of 
all  evils,  and  does  not  explore  himself,  that  is,  see 
his  sins,  makes  confession  but  not  the  confession 
of  repentance  ;  for  he  lives  afterwards  as  before. 

"  He  who  lives  the  life  of  faith,  does  the  work 
of  repentance  daily;  for  he  reflects  upon  the  evils 
appertaining  to  himself,  acknowledges  them,  shuns 
them,  and  supplicates  the  Lord  for  aid.  .  .  .  Re- 
pentance of  the  mouth  and  not  of  the  life  is  not  re- 
pentance. Sins  are  remitted  onlv  bv  repentance  of 
the  life."  (A.  C.  838T-'94.    See"  also  A.  R.  531.) 

"A  man  forever  remains  of  such  a  character  as 
is  his  life  [or  ruling  love],  and  by  no  means  such 
as  he  is  [or  appears  to  be]  at  the  hour  of  death ; 
for  repentance  at  that  time  is  of  no  avail  with  the 
evil,  but  it  confirms  the  state  with  the  good." 
(Ap.  Ex.  194.) 


Xyil. — Regeneration. 

What  the  New  Church  believes  and  teaches  in 
regard  to  man's  hereditary  nature,  was  stated  in 


144    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 
• 

the  previous  chapter.  From  a  long  line  of  fore- 
gone ancestry  he  inherits  tendencies  to  all  kinds 
of  evil.  His  hereditary  life  is  supremely  selfish. 
The  properly  human  life  is  the  life  of  unselfish 
love — the  Lord's  own  life  in  the  human  soul. 
This  is  the  higher  or  heavenly  life  which  every 
man  is  made  capable  of  receiving,  and  which  we 
must  receive  before  we  can  enter  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  or  before  we  can  know  from  personal 
experience  what  heaven  really  is.  It  is  in  its  es- 
sential nature  the  very  opposite  of  that  life  into 
which  we  are  born  naturally,  which  is  a  purely 
selfish  life.  Therefore  we  must  be  "born  again" 
— "born  from  Above" — "born  of  God" — before 
we  can  become  truly  the  children  of  God,  or  have 
the  heavenly  Father's  name  "in  our  foreheads." 
Agreeable  to  the  Divine  declaration,  "  Except  a 
man  be  born  again  [or  born  /rom  Above'],  he  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God."  (John  iii.  3.)  And 
to  be  born  again,  or  born  from  Above,  is  to  be 
born  into  a  new  and  higher  degree*  of  life  than 

*  According  to  Swedenborg  there  are  three  degrees  of  life  belong- 
ing to  the  soul,  corresponding  to  the  three  angelic  heavens,  the 
natural,  spiritual  and  celestial.  These  degrees  are  opened  succes- 
sively in  all  who  become  regenerate :  and  with  the  opening  of  each 
degree,  the  individual  is  introduced  or  born  into  a  new  and  higher 
degree  of  life.  The  lowest  or  natural  degree  is  opened  by  simple 
obedience  to  a  low  or  natural  form  of  truth— the  literal  sense  of  the 
Word.  The  spiritual  degree  is  opened  by  a  rational  understand- 
ing of  the  truth,  or  a  perception  of  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word, 
and  obedience  thereto.  And  the  celestial  orhighe.st  degree  is  opened 
when  the  individual  comes  to  act  from  a  higher  principle  than 
mere  obedience  to  any  form  of  truth— from  love  to  the  Lord  and 


Regeneration. 


145 


that  which  we  have  received  hereditarily ;  or, 
what  is  the  same,  it  is  to  experience  the  birth  or 
development  of  the  Lord's  own  life  within  us. 

The  next  question  is  (and  a  most  important 
one  it  is,  too).  Under  what  conditions  does  this 
new  birth  of  the  soul  take  place  ?  Or  when,  in 
what  manner  and  according  to  what  laws  is  this 
higher  life  developed  and  matured  ? 

The  doctrine  as  hitherto  held  and  taught  on 
this  subject  is:  That  regeneration  or  the  new 
birth  is  a  change  of  heart  wrought  suddenly  and 
miraculously  by  the  sovereign  grace  of  God,  and 
not  according  to  any  known  laws,  or  with  any  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  the  individual.  It  has 
been  confounded  or  held  to  be  identical  with  con- 
version, and  to  be  exclusively  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  with  which  man  has  nothing  what- 
ever to  do — except  to  wait  for  the  mysterious  op- 
eration of  the  Spirit. 

This  was  the  generally  received  view  among 
Protestant  Christians  of  the  last  century,  and  is 
probably  held  by  many  at  the  present  day.  But 
some  have  held,  and  still  hold,  the  doctrine  of 
baptismal  regeneration — the  belief  that  the  new 
birth  from  Above  takes  place  the  moment  the 
sacrament  of  baptism  is  administered.      It  is  a 

the  neighbor.   All  in  whom  this  love  has  come  to  he  the  prompt- 
ing motive,  are  born  into  the  highest  or  celestial  life,  and  are  pre- 
pared for  an  abode  among  the  celestial  angels.  Thus  regeneration 
is  seen,  in  the  light  of  the  New  Church,  to  be  a  thing  of  degrees. 
13  K 


146     The  Doctrines  of  the  Neio  Church. 

fact  known  to  all,"  says  Dr.  Bushnell,  "that  the 
rite  of  baptism  has  been  regarded  by  some  as  hav- 
ing a  peculiar  sacramental  or  magical  power,  and 
was  understood  to  convey  a  grace  immediately  to 
the  subject,,  washing  away  his  sins  and  setting 
him  in  a  regenerate  state ;  and  the  language  of 
the  prayer-book  [Episcopal]  I  suppose  represents 
this  opinion." 

The  New  Church  Doctrine. 

Contrary  to  all  this,  the  New  Church  believes 
and  teaches  that  regeneration  is  a  complete  but 
gradual  change  of  the  character  wrought  in  man 
by  the  sovereign  power  of  God,  but  not  without 
the  individuaVs  voluntary  cooperation.  That  it 
takes  place  in  accordance  with  the  revealed  laws 
of  the  heavenly  life,  but  only  on  condition  that 
these  laws  be  faithfully  obeyed.  In  other  words, 
it  teaches  that  men  are  born  saints  or  angels  (that 
is,  born  into  the  new  and  higher  life)  very  much 
as  they  are  born  artists,  mechanics,  farmers  or  en- 
gineers. They  inherit  the  germs  of,  or  the  capa- 
bility of  becoming,  either — though  the  germs  of 
the  higher  life  are  for  the  most  part  implanted  in 
infancy  and  childhood,  and  remain  stored  up  in 
the  interiors  awaiting  the  vivifying  influence  in 
due  time  of  the  beams  of  the  spiritual  Sun.  But 
they  actually  become  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
without  much  self-imposed  labor — without  first 


Regeneration, 


147 


learning  certain  principles  or  laws,  and  then  re- 
ducing these  laws  to  practice. 

This  Doctrine  Illustrated. 

Take  the  accomplished  musician  for  illustration. 
How  has  he  become  such  ?  He  inherited  the 
talent  or  aptitude  for  music,  as  we  all  inherit  the 
capability  of  becoming  angels.  And  so  we  may 
say  the  musician  was  in  him  in  potency  when  a 
child.  But  he  was  yet  in  an  embryo  state.  The  boy 
was  then  as  unconscious  of  the  entrancing  delights 
which  the  music  wrapped  up  within  him  would 
one  day  produce,  as  a  child  before  birth  is  uncon- 
scious of  its  latent  capabilities,  or  of  the  joys  of 
its  post-natal  state.  Properly  speaking,  the  mu- 
sician was  not  yet  born.  He  had  only  an  embry- 
onic or  latent  existence,  like  that  of  the  angel  in 
the  unregenerate  man. 

Observe,  now,  the  manner  of  his  birth, — for  this 
will  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  every  one  who 
becomes  regenerate,  is  born  from  Above.  It  will 
show  us  how  we  are  to  be  brought  out  of  our  natural 
state  in  which  we  love  ourselves  supremely,  into 
the  opposite  state  of  love  to  the  Lord  and  the 
neighbor  ;  or  how  "  the  new  man  "  created  in  the 
image  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  comes  forth  from 
"the  old  man"  that  is  ''corrupt  according  to  the 
deceitful  lusts." 

First,  the  individual  places  himself,  or  is  placed, 


148    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

under  the  instruction  of  a  master.  He  becomes  a 
pupil  or  learner.  He  takes  lessons  of  a  music- 
teacher.  He  acquaints  himself  with  the  rules  of 
the  art — certain  musical  laws — and  then  reduces 
these  rules  to  practice.  He  does  not  learn  them 
all  at  once,  but  only  a  few,  and  the  very  simplest 
at  first.  When  he  has  practiced  these  for  a  time, 
he  learns  other  and  more  difficult  rules ;  and 
straightway  proceeds  to  reduce  these  also  to  prac- 
tice. Thus  he  goes  on,  learning  and  practicing 
the  rules  of  the  art.  But  he  finds  little  pleasure 
in  these  first  lessons.  He  compels  himself,  how- 
ever, to  go  through  with  them.  It  is  all  labor 
and  drudgery  at  first,  which  he  performs  reluc- 
tantly and  without  one  thrill  of  delight,  yet  in 
the  hope  of  one  day  becoming  a  musician.  How 
stiff  and  clumsy  his  fingers  are  at  the  start.  How 
slowly  and  awkwardly  they  hobble  over  the  keys, 
like  a  child  just  beginning  to  walk !  How  much 
more  readily  they  go  wrong  than  right  I  And  he 
finds  it  far  more  difficult  to  practice  the  rules,  than 
to  commit  them  to  memory.  But  he  struggles  on, 
sometimes  hopeful,  sometimes  discouraged. 

At  last,  by  dint  of  patience  and  perseverance 
and  much  hard  practice,  the  difficulties  are  all  over- 
come. The  musical  laws  are  all  incarnated  in 
him.  They  flow  out  from  the  tips  of  his  fingers 
the  moment  he  seats  himself  at  the  instrument. 
He  is  now  able  to  render  with  facility  and  eff'ect 


Regeneration, 


149 


the  most  difficult  compositions  of  Beethoven  or 
Mozart.  And  he  finds,  too,  that  by  practicing, 
and  thereby  learning  to  give  faithful  expression 
to,  the  laws  that  govern  in  the  realm  of  music,  he 
becomes  more  and  more  enamored  with  the  art. 
Strange  and  unlooked  for  raptures  transport  him. 
He  is  introduced,  as  it  were,  into  a  new  world. 
Sweet  melodies  are  rippling  all  around  him.  He 
experiences  a  delight  in  executing,  or  in  listening 
to  the  execution  of,  some  grand  composition,  of 
which,  at  the  beginning  of  his  musical  education, 
he  could  form  no  conception. 

In  this  and  in  no  other  way  is  the  musician  born. 
He  comes  forth  not  suddenly  nor  in  any  miracu- 
lous manner ;  but  slowly,  gradually^  after  years 
of  hard  study,  close  application  and  unremitting 
toil.  The  student  learns  certain  musical  rules, 
and  then  compels  himself  to  reduce  these  rules  to 
practice.  And  so  at  last  the  musician  is  produced, 
developed,  or  born. 

And  the  painter,  sculptor,  architect,  and  engin- 
eer are  born  in  the  same  way. 

And  in  a  way  precisely  similar  is  "  the  new 
man  "  or  angel  born.  In  other  words,  we  are  in- 
troduced or  born  in  a  similar  manner  into  the 
higher  life — into  a  state  of  supreme  love  to  the 
Lord  and  the  neighbor  ; — are  lifted  out  of  our  low 
natural  state  which  is  hell,  into  that  exalted 
spiritual  state  which  is  heaven.    And  this  is  what 


150    The  Doctrines  of  the  Neio  Church, 

is  meant  by  being  "born  again,"  or  "born  from 
Above." 

The  task  of  learning  the  laws  of  the  soul's 
higher  life,  or  of  receiving  the  truths  of  the  Word 
into  the  understanding  merely,  is  comparatively 
easy.  Obeying  these  truths — living  them — prac- 
ticing them,  in  the  parlor,  the  kitchen,  the  office, 
the  shop,  the  counting-house,  the  market-place, 
the  school-room,  on  the  farm,  at  the  fire-side,  and 
in  legislative  halls — everywhere  and  alwaj^s  con- 
forming our  dispositions  and  conduct  to  their  re- 
quirements, and  so  weaving  these  laws  into  the 
very  fabric  of  our  spiritual  being,  and  making 
them,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  ourselves — this  is  the 
laborious  and  difficult  part  of  the  work. 

And  it  needs  no  argument  to  prove  that  this 
renewal  or  re-creation  of  the  inner  man — this 
complete  change  of  the  character  or  ruling  love, 
cannot  be  suddenly  wrought.  It  is  the  work  of 
a  life-time — the  Lord's  own  work,  but  one  which 
He  cannot  do  without  our  cooperation.  It  takes 
place  in  the  degree  that  one  regards  the  indulgence 
of  any  known  evil  as  a  sin  against  God,  and 
shuns  it  because  it  is  a  sin — at  the  same  time  con- 
forming his  life  to  all  known  truth  from  a  sense  of 
religious  obligation.  So  far  as  he  does  this,  his 
evil  inclinations  are  overcome,  and  the  opposite 
good  inclinations  are  given  him  in  their  stead.  And 
this  is  no  sudden,  but  a  gradual  process.  Agree- 


Regeneration. 


151 


able  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  which  compares 
the  growth  of  this  new  life  from  its  germ  in  the 
soul,  to  the  growth  of  a  plant  from  its  seed  ;  "first 
the  blade,  then  the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear." 

And  while  a  man  should  shun  evils  as  of  him- 
self, he  should  at  the  same  time  (and  must  if  he 
would  lay  the  axe  at  the  root  of  the  tree,  and 
remove  the  prompting  motive  to  evil)  believe  and 
acknowledge  that  it  is  the  Lord  who  gives  him 
the  inclination  and  power  to  do  so ;  and  that  in 
and  of  himself  alone  he  is  utterly  helpless,  having 
no  power  to  shun  evil  or  to  do  good. 

"The  regenerated  man,"  says  Swedenborg,  "is 
a  heaven  in  the  least  form  ;  therefore  also  there  is 
in  him  an  order  similar  to  that  which  is  in  heaven. 
When  man  is  born  he  is,  as  to  hereditary  evils, 
a  -hell  in  the  least  form ;  and  he  also  becomes  a 
hell,  so  far  as  he  takes  from  hereditary  evils  and 
superadds  to  them  his  own.  Hence  the  order  of 
his  life  from  nativity  and  from  actual  life,  is  oppo- 
site to  the  order  of  heaven ;  for  man,  from  the 
propriiim,  loves  himself  more  than  the  Lord,  and 
the  world  more  than  heaven  ;  when  yet  the  life  of 
heaven  consists  in  loving  the  Lord  above  all  things, 
and  the  neighbor  as  himself.  Hence  it  is  evident 
that  the  former  life  which  is  of  hell,  must  be  alto- 
gether destroyed,  that  is,  evils  and  falsities  must 
be  removed,  in  order  that  the  new  life  which  is 
the  life  of  heaven,  may  be  implanted.  This  can- 
not by  any  means  be  done  hastily ;  for  every  evil 
being  inrooted  with  its  falsities,  has  connexion 


152    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

with  all  evils  and  their  falsities,  and  these  are 
innumerable,  and  their  connexion  is  so  manifold 
that  it  cannot  be  comprehended  even  bj  the 
angels,  but  only  by  the  Lord.  Hence  it  is  evident 
that  the  life  of  hell  in  man  cannot  be  destroyed 
suddenly,  for  if  suddenly  he  would  altogether  ex- 
pire ;  neither  can  the  life  of  heaven  be  implanted 
suddenly,  for  if  it  were,  the  same  result  would  fol- 
low. There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  arcana 
of  which  scarcely  a  single  one  is  known,  whereby 
man  is  led  of  the  Lord,  when  from  the  life  of  hell  he 
rises  into  the  life  of  heaven.  .  .  .  Therefore  many 
have  fallen  into  errors  concerning  man's  liberation 
from  evils  and  falsities,  or  concerning  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,  believing  that  the  life  of  hell  can, 
through  mercy,  be  transcribed  into  the  life  of 
heaven  with  man  in  a  moment ;  when  yet  the 
whole  work  of  regeneration  is  of  mercy,  and  no 
others  are  regenerated  but  those  who  receive  the 
mercv  of  the  Lord  by  faith  and  life  during  their 
abode  in  the  world."    A.  C.  9336. 

''Regeneration  begins  w^hen  a  man  abstains 
from  evils  as  sins,  and  progresses  as  he  shuns 
them,  and  is  perfected  as*  he  fights  against  them  ; 
and  then,  as  he  conquers  from  the  Lord,  he  is  re- 
^  generated.  With  him  who  is  regenerated  the 
order  of  life  is  reversed.  From  being  natural  he 
becomes  spiritual.  .  .  .  Every  man  is  regenerated 
by  truths  and  a  life  according  to  them ;  for  by 
truth  he  knows  how  to  live,  and  by  life  he  puts 
truth  in  practice."    D.  P.  84. 

"They  who  are  born  of  the  Lord,  that  is,  re- 
generated, receive  the  Lord's  life  which  is  divine 
love,  that  is,  love  toward  the  whole  human  race, 


Charity  J  Faith  and  Works,  153 

consisting  in  the  desire  to  save  all  eternally,  if 
possible.  They  who  have  not  the  Lord's  love, 
that  is,  who  do  not  love  their  neighbor  as  them- 
selves, have  not  his  life.  Consequently  they  are 
in  no  respect  born  of  Him,  and  therefore  they 
cannot  be  heirs  of  his  kingdom."    A.  C.  1803. 

XYIII. — Charity,  Faith  and  Works. 

According  to  the  belief  and  teaching  of  the 
New  Church,  these  three  cardinal  doctrines  of 
Christianity  are  so  intimately  connected,  that  it  is 
impossible  for  either  to  exist  in  its  genuine  form 
without  the  other  two  ;  as  impossible  as  it  is  for 
the  heart,  lungs  and  their  joint  activity  to  exist 
in  the  human  body,  except  in  vital  union  with 
each  other.  The  heart  could  not  perform  its  func- 
tions, and  therefore  could  not  exist  as  a  heart, 
without  the  lungs,  nor  the  lungs  without  the  heart ; 
nor  could  there  be  any  operation  or  resultant 
activity  without  the  union-'Of  these  two.  Hence 
these  three  doctrines,  though  they  may  be  thought 
of  separately,  are  really  one,  because  incapable  of 
a  separate  and  vital  existence. 

The  Old  Doctrine, 

At  the  time  Swedenborg  wrote,  the  doctrine  of 
salvation  and  justification  by  faith  alone  was  held 


154    The  Dodnnes  of  the  New  Church. 


as  fundamental  in  all  Protestant  churches.  The 
meaning  of  which  was,  that  the  sinner  has  only 
to  believe  that  the  full  penalty  of  his  transgres- 
sions has  been  paid  by  the  suffering  and  death  of 
Christ — the  wrath  of  God  thereby  appeased  and 
his  pardon  secured.  This  was  "  laying  hold  on 
salvation  "  through  faith  alone — charity  and  works 
being  utterly  excluded  as  necessary  factors.  To 
quote  a  few  passages  from  the  Formula  Concordiae 
which  contained  the  accepted  Protestant  creed  of 
that  day: 

''Justification  by  faith  alone,  is  remission  of 
sins,  deliverance  from  damnation,  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  Father,  adoption  as  sons,  and 
is  effected  by  the  imputation  of  the  merit  or 
righteousness  of  Christ." — ''Good  works  have 
nothing  to  do  with  justification  by  faith." — "  The 
business  of  justification  is  between  God  and  us, 
and  is  to  appease  his  wrath." — "  If  any  one,  there- 
fore, believes  he  can  obtain  the  remission  of  his 
sins  because  he  is  possessed  of  charity,  he  brings 
a  reproach  on  Christ  by  an  impious  and  vain  con- 
fidence in  his  own  righteousness." — "  Good  works 
are  to  be  utterly  excluded  in  treating  of  justifica- 
tion and  eternal  life." — "The  position  that  good 
works  are  necessary  to  salvation,  is  to  be  rejected, 
because  it  takes  away  the  comfort  of  the  gospel  and 
gives  occasion  to  doubt  of  the  grace  of  God." — 
"That  good  works  are  necessary  unto  salvation, 
ought  not  to  be  taught  and  defended,  but  rather 
exploded  and  rejected  bv  the  churches  as  false." — 
Pp.  8T,  89,  589,  t04,  TOS,  Leipsic  edition,  1756. 


Charity y  Faith  and  Works.  155 


And  Martin  Luther  who  first  formulated  this 
faith-alone  dogma,  says : 

"  A  Christian  cannot,  if  he  will,  lose  his  salva- 
tion by  any  multitude  or  magnitude  of  sins,  un- 
less he  ceases  to  believe;  for  no  sins  can  damn 
him,  but  unbelief  alone.  Everything  else  ...  is 
absorbed  in  a  moment  bv  that  faith." — Luther  de 
Captiv.  Bab.  II.,  264.   "Comp.  Duspu.  I.,  523. 

The  New  Church  Doctrine. 

But  very  different  is  the  doctrine  of  the  New 
Church.  According  to  its  teaching,  there  are  two 
parts  or  faculties  of  the  mind — understanding  and 
will ;  the  former  being  the  receptacle  of  truth  (or 
its  opposite),  and  the  latter  the  receptable  of  love 
(or  its  opposite)  ;  for  man  has  no  life  of  his  own  ; 
he  is  merely  an  organized  form  capable  of  receiv- 
ing life  from  the  Lord.  These  two  faculties  are 
related  like  light  and  heat,  or  like  the  lungs  and 
the  heart.  Spiritual  truth,  such  as  the  Lord  has 
revealed  concerning  Himself  and  his  kingdom,  in- 
cluding all  the  laws  of  the  soul's  higher  or  heav-  ^ 
enly  life,  may  be  received  into  the  understanding 
and  believed.  But  this  belief  or  mere  intellec- 
tual apprehension  of  truth,  is  not  faith  ;  it  is  sim- 
ply a  persuasion,  or  knowledge  of  faith, — a  some- 
thing belonging  to  the  outermost  region  of  the 
mind,  the  memory.  The  truth  becomes  faith  only 
when  it  is  united  to  love  (which  is  its  vital  ele- 


156    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


ment)  in  the  will ;  and  it  becomes  united  to  love 
only  when  the  belief  of  the  truth  is  so  thoroufrh 
and  devout,  that  the  individual  regulates  his 
thought,  purposes  and  conduct  by  it — lives  it  day 
by  day — shunning  as  a  sin  whatever  evil  the  truth 
condemns,  and  doing  whatever  good  and  useful 
acts  it  approves  or  enjoins.  And  these  acts,  whereby 
faith  becomes  wedded  to  charity,  or  truth  in  the 
understanding  becomes  married  to  love  in  the  will 
— if  done  (as  the  truth  requires)  in  the  hearty 
acknowledgment  that  the  power  and  disposition 
to  do  them,  are  every  moment  given  by  the  Lord 
— are  the  good  works  which  consummate  the 
heavenly  marriage  of  good  and  truth  in  the  soul. 
Works  are  the  ultimate  acts  in  which  love  in  the 
will  guided  by  truth  in  the  understanding,  termi- 
nates and  rests  as  on  a  secure  foundation,  and 
without  which  it  would  have  no  permanence — no 
real  existence  in  the  soul  beyond  that  of  a  shadow 
or  a  dream.  Hence  the  reason  why  so  much  im- 
portance is  attached  to  works  in  Scripture,  and 
why  it  is  said  that  in  the  Hereafter  every  one  will 
be  judged  and  rewarded  "according  to  his  works." 

Thus  the  New  Church  teaches  that  charity, 
faith  and  works  are  united  like  heart,  lungs  and 
their  resultant  action,  or  like  will,  understanding 
and  their  joint  operation  in  man ;  and  that  neither 
is  genuine,  or  can  have  any  real  existence,  apart 
from  the  other  two.    It  teaches  that  love  or  char- 


Charity y  Faith  and  Works,  157 


ity  is  of  paramount  importance,  and  that  faith 
without  charity  is  like  the  sun's  light  without  its 
invigorating  warmth  ;  that  "  the  Lord  is  not  con- 
joined with  man  by  faith  [or  mere  belief],  but  by 
the  life  of  faith  which  is  charity  ; "  that  "  charity 
constitutes  both  heaven  and  the  church,  and  not 
faith  separate  from  charity ; "  that  "  the  church 
would  be  one  and  not  many,  if  charity  were  re- 
garded as  the  essential  thing  ; "  that  "  true  char- 
ity is  to  act  justly  and  faithfully  in  the  office, 
business  and  employment  in  which  a  man  is  en- 
gaged, and  with  those  with  whom  he  has  any 
dealings;"  and  that  ''charity  and  faith  are  only 
mental  and  perishable  things,  unless  they  be  de- 
termined to  works  and  co-exist  in  them  when  it 
is  possible."  A  volume  might  be  filled  with  pas- 
sages from  Swedenborg  illustrating  the  truth  of 
what'ls  here  said.  But  we  will  only  add  four  or 
five  brief  extracts.*  a* 

"  There  is  no  other  faith  than  that  which  is 
grounded  in  charity.  He  that  has  no  charity  can- 
not have  the  smallest  portion  of  faith.  Charity 
is  the  very  ground  in  which  faith  is  implanted. 
It  is  the  heart  whence  faith  derives  existence  and 
life.  Therefore,  ...  for  any  one  to  endeavor  to 
form  to  himself  the  life  of  faith  without  charity, 
is  like  endeavoring  to  continue  bodily  life  by  the 
lungs  alone,  without  the  heart."   (A.  C.  n.  1843.) 

*  For  a  more  complete  elucidation  of  this  doctrine,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Vol.  V.  of  the  "  Swedenborg  Library,"  which  treats  of 
"  Charity,  Faith  and  Works." 
14 


158    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


"  To  have  faith  is  nothing  else  than  to  live  ac- 
cording to  it  [that  is,  according  to  truth  in  the 
understanding]  ;  and  to  live  according  to  it  is  not 
only  to  know  and  think,  but  also  to  will  and  do ; 
for  faith  is  not  in  a  man  while  it  is  only  in  his 
knowledge  and  thought,  but  when  it  is  also  in  his 
will  and  deeds.  Faith  in  man  is  a  faith  of  the 
life ;  but  faith  not  yet  in  him,  is  a  faith  of  the 
memory,  and  of  the  thought  derived  therefrom," 
(Ap.  Ex.  250.) 

"The  intellectual  principle  is  what  first  receives 
truths,  since  it  sees  them  and  introduces  them  to 
the  will ;  and  when  they  are  in  the  will,  they  are 
in  the  man,  for  the  will  is  the  man  himself  Who- 
ever supposes,  therefore,  that  faith  is  faith  with 
man  until  he  wills  those  truths,  and  frpm'willing 
does  them,  is  very  much  deceived ;  nor  have  the 
truths  of  faith  any  life  until  man  wills  and  does 
them."   (A.  C.  9224.) 

"  Heavenly  life  is  contracted  from  all  those 
ends,  thoughts  and  works  which  are  grounded  in 
love^toward  our  neighbor ;  this  is  the  life  to  which 
all  those  things  called  faith  have  respect,  and  it 
is  procured  by  all  things  appertaining  to  faith. 
Hence  it  may  be  seen  what  faith  is,  viz.,  that  it 
is  charity ;  for  all  things  called  the  doctrines  of 
faith  lead  to  charity;  they  are  all  contained  in 
charity,  and  are  all  derived  from  charity."  (A.  C. 
2228.) 

"  By  the  works  according  to  which  a  man  is 
judged  [in  the  hereafter]  are  not  meant  such 
works  as  are  exhibited  merely  in  the  external 
form,  but  such  as  they  are  internally  also.  For 
every  deed  proceeds  from  man's  will  and  thought; 


Believing  in  God, 


159 


.  .  .  therefore  a  deed  or  work  in  itself  considered, 
is  notliing  but  an  effect  which  derives  its  soul  and 
life  from  the  will  and  thought,  insomuch  that  it  is 
will  and  thought  in  an  external  form.  Hence  it 
follows  that  the  deed  is  such  as  are  the  will  and 
thought  which  produce  the  deed."   (H.  H.  472.) 


XIX. — Believing  in  God. 

Nothing  reveals  the  searching  and  eminently 
practical  character  of  the  New  Church  doctrines 
more  clearly,  or  shows  more  distinctly  the  wide 
difference  between  this  Church  and  those  which 
have  preceded  it,  than  the  strength  and  frequency 
with  which  its  teachings  emphasize  the  impor- 
tance of  keeping  the  commandments,  or  living 
the  divine  precepts.  There  are  doubtless  multi- 
tudes in  all  the  churches  of  to-day,  who  do  not 
even  believe  in  God,  according  to  the  Xew  Church 
standard  of  belief.  For  this  Church  teaches  that 
only  those  really  believe  in  Him,  who  reverently 
obey  his  precepts.  The  following  brief  extracts 
from  Swedenborg  are  given  in  confirmation  of  this  : 

"To  believe  in  the  Lord  is  not  only  to  acknowl- 
edge Him,  but  also  to  keep  his  commandments. 
.  .  .  Man's  mind  consists  of  understanding  and 
will ;  and  it  is  the  part  of  the  understanding  to 
think,  but  of  the  will  to  do.  Wherefore  when  man 
only  acknowledges  the  Lord  from  the  thought  of 
the  understanding,  he  approaches  Him  with  only 


160    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


one-half  of  his  mind  ;  but  when  he  keeps  his  com- 
mandments, he  approaches  Him  with  his  whole 
mind  ;  and  this  is  to  believe  in  Him."  (T.  C.  R. 
n.  151.) 

"  To  believe  in  God  is  to  know  and  to  do ;  but 
to  believe  those  things  which  are  from  God,  ife  to 
know  and  yet  not  do.  They  who  are  really  Chris- 
tians, both  know  and  do,  that  is,  they  believe  in 
God;  but  they  who  are  not  truly  Christians,  know 
and  do  not:'   (A.  C.  9239.) 

"  Man  supposes  that,  although  he  lives  wick- 
edly, he  can  still  have  faith  to  believe  at  least 
that  there  is  a  God,  that  the  Lord  is  the  Savior 
of  the  world,  that  there  is  a  heaven  and  a  hell, 
that  the  Word  is  holy,  and  so  on  ;  but  I  can  as- 
sert that,  if  he  does  not  shun  evils  because  they 
are  sins,  and  thence  look  to  the  Lord,  he  does  not 
believe  in  those  things  at  all ;  for  they  are  not  of 
his  life  and  love,  but  only  of  his  memory  and 
knowledge ;  and  they  do  not  become  of  his  life 
and  love  before  he  fights  against  evils  and  over- 
comes them.  This  has  been  made  evident  to  me 
from  many  after  death,  who  supposed  that  they 
had  at  least  believed  in  the  existence  of  God,  and 
that  the  Lord  was  the  Savior  of  the  world,  with 
other  things  of  a  like  nature ;  but  still  they  who 
had  lived  in  evil,  had  in  reality  no  belief  at  all." 
(Ap.  Ex.  839.) 

XX. — Seeing  and  Knowing  God. 

One  of  the  important  and  instructive  spiritual 
laws  revealed  for  the  New  Church,  is,  that  every 


Seeing  and  Knowing  God,  161 


one  sees  or  apprehends  spiritual  truth  according  to 
his  own  state  or  character.  The  higher  and  more 
heavenly  is  one's  state,  therefore,  the  higher  and 
clearer  are  his  apprehensions  of  heavenly  truth. 
And  in  consequence  of  this  law,  the  character  and 
aspect  of  the  Divine  Being  himself,  are  very  dif- 
ferent to  different  individuals — and  to  the  same 
individual  in  different  states  of  mind,  or  when 
contemplating  the  Divine  from  different  princi- 
ples.   It  is  so  even  in  heaven. 

Swedenborg  says  that  the  angels  do  not  all  see 
God  alike;  that  his  appearance  differs  as  their 
states  differ.  To  those  in  the  highest  or  celes- 
tial heaven,  that  is,  to  those  whose  love  is  most 
exalted,  pure  and  fervent,  He  appears  as  a  Sun, 
immeasurably  more  brilhant  than  the  sun  of  this 
world ;  because  such  appearance  corresponds  to, 
and  is  one  of  the  normal  results  of,  the  clear 
shining  of  his  truth  and  love  in  their  hearts.  To 
the  spiritual  angels,  or  those  in  a  lower  state.  He 
appears  less  brilliant — comparatively  as  a  Moon. 
And  to  infernal  spirits — those  who  are  dominated 
by  the  passions  and  propensities  of  their  lower 
nature — those  whose  souls  are  darkened  by  fal- 
sity, selfishness  and  sin.  He  appears  as  darkness 
and  thick  darkness  according  to  the  nature  and 
degree  of  the  evils  in  which  they  are  immersed. 
For  the  great  and  eternal  law  of  correspondence 
between  the  inner  and  the  outer,  is  what  deter- 
14*  L 


162    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

mines  the  character  of  the  whole  phenomenal 
world  in  the  Hereafter,  even  the  appearance  of 
the  Lord  Himself. 

And  not  only  so,  but  we  are  further  told  that 
Grod  appears  different  to  different  persons  in  this 
life — to  each  one  according  to  his  real  character 
or  spiritual  state.  They  who  are  nearest  to  Him, 
that  is,  who  receive  his  unselfish  love  into  their 
hearts  in  largest  measure,  and  let  it  shine  out 
most  conspicuously  in  their  lives — who  are  most 
like  God  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of  their  minds 
— see  Him  most  truly.  They  understand  his  na- 
ture and  character,  and  therefore  see  Him  (for  to 
see,  spiritually,  is  to  understand)  from  the  spirit 
and  principles  in  themselves  which  are  from  Him. 
As  we  deny  self,  and  encourage  and  strengthen 
in  our  hearts  purity  of  motive,  nobleness  of  pur- 
pose, and  an  unselfish  desire  to  serve  and  thus 
promote  the  welfare  of  others,  we  receive  more 
of  God's  own  life,  become  more  like  Him,  and  so 
have  a  better  understanding  or  clearer  view  of 
Him.  As  it  is  written:  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
heart,  for  they  shall  see  God."  In  confirmation  of 
this  statement,  we  cite  the  following  from  Sweden- 
borg  : 

"  That  the  Lord  appears  to  every  one  accord- 
ing to  his  quality  [or  state],  may  be  manifest  from 
this  consideration :  that  He  appears  to  those  in 
the  inmost  or  third  heaven  as  a  sun  from  which 


Seeing  and  Knowing  God.  163 


proceeds  ineffable  light,  because  the  inhabitants 
of  that  heaven  are  principled  in  the  g-ood  of  love 
to  the  Lord  ;  and  that  He  appears  to  those  in  the 
middle  or  second  heaven  as  a  moon,  because  the 
inhabitants  of  that  heaven  are  more  remotely  or 
obscurely  in  love  to  Him,  being  principled  in  love 
towards  their  neighbor ;  but  in  the  ultimate  or 
first  heaven,  He  does  not  appear  as  a  sun  nor  yet 
as  a  moon,  but  only  as  light,  which  light  far  exceeds 
that  of  this  world.  And  since  the  Lord  appears 
to  every  one  according  to  his  quality,  therefore 
He  cannot  appear  to  those  in  hell  otherwise  than 
as  a  dusky  cloud  and  thick  darkness.  From  these 
considerations  it  may  be  clearly  seen  that  the  Lord 
appears  to  every  one  according  to  his  quality  [or 
character],  because  according  to  reception."  (A. 
C.  n.  6832.) 

"  Xo  one  can  see  God  otherwise  than  from  such 
principles  as  are  in  himself ;  as  he  who  is  in  ha- 
tred, sees  Him  from  hatred,  he  who  is  in  unmer- 
eifulness,  sees  Him  from  unmercifulness ;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  they  who  are  in  charity  and  mercy, 
see  Him  from  and  in  these  principles.  The  case 
herein  is  as  with  the  rays  of  light,  which,  where 
they  fall  into  ugly  forms,  are  turned  into  ugly 
colors ;  but  when  they  fall  into  beautiful  forms, 
are  then  turned  into  beautiful  colors."  (Ibid.,  n. 
8819.) 

"  The  Lord  appears  to  every  individual  accord- 
ing to  each  one's  own  character  or  quality, — to 
the  celestial  angels  as  a  sun,  to  the  spiritual  angels 
as  a  moon,  to  all  the  good  as  a  light  of  various 
delight  and  pleasantness ;  but  to  the  wicked  as 
smoke  and  a  consuming  fire.    And  as  the  Jews, 


164    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

when  the  law  was  promulgated,  had  nothing  of 
charity,  but  were  governed  by  self-love  and  the 
love  of  the  world,  consequently  by  evils  and  falsi- 
ties, therefore  He  appeared  to  them  [from  Mount 
Sinai]  as  smoke  and  fire,  when  at  the  same  mo- 
ment He  appeared  to  the  angels  us  a  sun,  and  as 
celestial  light.  That  He  appeared  thus  to  the 
Jews  by  reason  of  their  evil  nature  or  quality,  is 
plain  from  the  following  passasres  (Ex.  xxiv.  16, 
17:  xix.  18:  Deut.  iv.  11,  12^  v.  23-25).  The 
case  would  be  the  same  if  any  other  person  who 
lives  in  hatred  and  its  defilements,  should  see  the 
Lord.  He  would  only  be  able  to  see  Him  from 
the  principle  of  hatred  and  its  defilements,  which, 
receiving  the  rays  of  goodness  and  truth  from  the 
Lord,  would  change  them  into  such  fire,  smoke  and 
darkness." 


XXI. —  What  is  it  to  Love  God? 

The  Bible  teaches  that,  to  love  God  with  all  the 
heart,  and  the  neighbor  as  one's  self,  is  the  sum 
and  substance  of  all  the  divine  precepts.  For  it 
says  that,  ''on  these  two  commandments  hang  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets."  But  the  meaning  of 
this  precept,  simple  as  it  appears,  was  but  dimly 
apprehended  by  Christians  a  hundred  years  ago. 
And  not  many,  even  at  this  day,  seem  to  have 
any  clear  idea  of  what  it  is  to  love  the  Lord 
supremely.    Few  seem  to  understand  that  it  is 


What  is  it  to  Love  God?  165 


to  love  truth,  sincerity,  justice,  benevolence — all 
those  divine  and  heavenly  principles  which  come 
from  God,  and  which,  when  received  by  men, 
make  them  angels — images  and  likenesses  of  the 
Heavenly  Father.  Nor  has  it  been,  nor  is  it  now, 
generally  known  that  these  divine  principles  are 
truly  loved,  only  so  far  as  they  are  carried  into 
practice — ultimated  in  our  daily  lives — made 
governing  principles  of  action  in  all  our  inter- 
course and  transactions  with  our  fellow-men.  But 
the  teachings  of  the  New  Church  are  explicit  on 
this  subject.  Let  two  or  three  passages  from  the 
Writings  sufl&ce  for  illustration  : 

So  far  as  a  man  shuns  and  is  averse  to  unlaw- 
ful gains  acquired  by  fraud  and  craft,  he  wills  what 
is  sincere,  right  and  just ;  and  at  length  he  begins 
to  love  what  is  sincere  because  it  is  sincere,  what 
is  right  because  it  is  right,  and  what  is  just  be- 
cause it  is  just,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  from 
the  Lord  and  the  love  of  the  Lord  is  in  them. 
For  to  love  the  Lord  is  not  to  love  his  person,  but 
it  is  to  love  those  things  which  proceed  from  Him, 
for  these  are  the  Lord  with  man ;  thus  it  is  to 
love  what  is  itself  sincere,  what  is  itself  right, 
what  is  itself  just ;  and  since  these  things  are  the 
Lord,  therefore  in  proportion  as  a  man  loves  them 
and  acts  from  them,  he  acts  from  the  Lord ;  and  in 
the  same  proportion  the  Lord  removes  things  insin- 
cere and  unjust,  even  as  to  the  intentions  and  will 
wherein  they  have  their  roots."  (Ap.  Ex.  n.  973.) 

"  By  loving  the  Lord  is  not  meant  to  love  Him 


166    The  Doctrines  of  the  Neio  Church. 


as  a  person,  but  it  is  to  love  the  divine  good  and 
truth  which  are  the  Lord  in  heaven  and  in  the 
church.  And  these  two  principles  are  not  loved 
by  knowing  them,  thinking  them,  understanding 
them  and  speakins:  them,  but  by  willing  and  doing 
them."    (Ap.  Ex^n.  1099.) 

He  who  thinks  that  he  loves  the  Lord  when 
he  does  not  live  according  to  his  precepts,  is 
greatly  deceived ;  for  to  live  according  to  his  pre- 
cepts, is  to  love  Him.  These  precepts  are  the 
truths  which  are  from  the  Lord,  and  He  is  in 
them;  therefore  so  far  as  these  are  loved,  that  is, 
so  far  as  the  life  is  formed  according  to  them  from 
love,  so  far  the  Lord  is  loved.  The  reason  is, 
that  the  Lord  loves  man,  and  from  love  wills  that 
he  may  be  happy  to  eternity;  and  man  cannot  be 
made  happy  except  by  a  life  according  to  his  pre- 
cepts. .  .  .  The  Lord  also  teaches  in  John :  '  He 
that  hath  my  precepts  and  doeth  them,  he  it  is 
that  loveth  me.'  *  He  that  loveth  me  not,  keep- 
eth  not  my  sayings,'  xiv.  21-24."  (A.  C.  10,579.) 


Prater. 

All  Christians  believe  in  the  need  of  prayer. 
It  is  enjoined  as  a  duty  and  its  importance  and 
use  are  clearly  implied  in  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  Scriptures.  The  Psalmist  says:  "Even-, 
ing  and  morning  and  noon  will  I  pray."  "  The 
Lord  will  regard  the  prayer  of  the  destitute,  and 
will  not  despise  their  prayer."    "  Elisha  prayed 


Prayer, 


167 


unto  the  Lord,"  and  his  prayer  was  answered  (2 
Kings  vi.  IT,  18).  Moses  and  Samuel  and  Heze- 
kiah  and  Ezra  and  Jeremiah  and  Daniel  and  all 
the  prophets  of  old,  were  men  of  prayer.  So 
were  Peter  and  Paul  and  Silas  and  J ohn.  And 
our  Savior  himself  while  in  the  flesh,  often  prayed, 
sometimes  "continuing  all  night  in  prayer  to 
God  "  (Luke  vi.  12).  And  He  told  his  disciples 
that  "  men  ought  always  to  pray  "  (Luke  xviii. 
1)  ;  and  that  "  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  prayer, 
believing,  ye  shall  receive  "  (Matt.  xxi.  22).  And 
not  only  this,  but  He  taught  them  how  to  pray, 
counseling  them  not  to  use  "  vain  repetitions,  as 
the  heathen  do ;  "  nor  to  be  like  the  hypocrites, 
who  love  to  pray  "  standing  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets,  that  they  may  be  seen  of  men ;  "  and  He 
gave  them  a  form  of  prayer  which,  for  simplicity, 
depth,  and  comprehensiveness,  infinitely  surpasses 
every  other  prayer  that  was  ever  uttered,  and  will 
remain  as  a  perfect  model  for  all  future  ages. 

And  so  all  professing  Christians  agree  as  to  the 
importance  and  use  of  prayer.  But  what  is  the 
use  of  it,  or  in  what  way  is  the  use  accomplished? 
Does  it  change  the  disposition  or  purpose  of  the 
all-wise  and  loving  Father,  and  cause  Him  to  do 
differently  from  what  He  otherwise  would  have 
done  ?  So  have  Christians  hitherto  believed.  But 
a  large  and  constantly  increasing  class  are  coming 
to  reject  this  theory  or  philosophy  of  prayer. 


168    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


They  cannot  believe  that  the  purpose  of  the  in- 
finitely Wise  and  Good,  is  ever  changed  by  the 
prayers  of  feeble  and  erring  mortals.  They  re- 
quire a  different  explanation  of  it  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  their  reason.  And  the  New  Church 
has  a  different  explanation  to  offer. 

According  to  its  teaching,  the  essence  of  genu- 
ine prayer  is  the  heart's  sincere  desire  for  such 
things  as  the  Lord  is  ever  ready  and  waiting  to 
give.  It  effects  no  change  of  purpose  in  the  Di- 
vine Being,  but  changes  the  disposition  and  feel- 
ings of  the  suppliant,  bringing  him  into  a  higher 
and  holier  state.  It  opens  the  interior  avenues 
of  the  soul  to  a  freer  influx  of  the  divine  wisdom 
and  love,  and  so  makes  it  appear  as  if  a  change 
had  actually  been  wrought  in  God  himself — as  if 
He  felt  differently  toward  the  suppliant  from  what 
He  otherwise  would  have  felt.  * 

When  the  earth's  atmosphere  is  laden  with 
smoke,  the  sun  appears  dim  or  fiery  red  ;  but  when 
the  smoke  is  dissipated  and  the  atmosphere  puri- 
fied, he  appears  in  all  his  native  brightness.  A 
change  appears  to  have  taken  place  in  the  sun ; 
but  this  appearance  is  caused  by  the  change  in 
our  own  atmosphere.  In  respect  to  the  earth,  it 
is  as  if  the  sun  itself  had  changed.  And  so  the 
apparent  changes  in  the  Divine  Being,  are  all 
caused  by  the  real  changes  in  our  own  minds  and 
hearts. 


Prayer, 


169 


God's  gifts  are  all  bestowed  on  certain  condi- 
tions ;  and  we  cannot  receive  them  without  com- 
plying with  the  conditions.  You  desire  an  increase 
of  bodily  strength :  Well,  exercise  your  limbs 
regularly  and  within  the  bounds  of  moderation, 
and  an  increase  of  strength  will  be  given  you. 
Or  you  desire  a  field  of  corn ;  but  it  will  not  be 
given  unless  you  prepare  the  soil,  and  plant  the 
corn,  and  weed  and  tend  it  according  to  the  re- 
quirements of  its  nature  ?  And  if  you  desire  that 
the  corn  be  converted  into  bread,  you  know  the 
Lord  will  not  do  this  without  your  intelligent 
co-operation.  You  must  do  your  part  of  the  work. 
You  must  gather  and  thresh  and  grind  the  corn, 
and  make  the  meal  into  bread. 

Precisely  so  is  it  in  regard  to  God's  higher  or 
spiritual  gifts.  The  graces  of  heaven  are  never 
bestowed  except  on  certain  conditions.  And  one 
of  these  conditions  is,  that  we  recognize  them  as 
all  belonging  to  and  coming  from  the  Lord,  and 
humbly  and  earnestly  ask  for  them.  They  can 
be  given  only  to  those  who  sincerely  desire  them  ; 
for  no  others  are  in  a  state  to  receive  them. 
Therefore  it  is  written :  Ask,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you." 

Sincere  and  earnest  prayer,  then,  for  patience, 
forbearance,  self-denial,  uprightness,  courage,  res- 
ignation, contentment,  trust,  fidelity  to  duty — for 
all  the  heavenly  graces  which  the  Lord  is  ever 
15 


170    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

ready  to  bestow,  and  which  are  the  only  things 
proper  for  rational  beings  to  pray  for — is  always 
sure  to  prevail.  Such  prayer  offered  every  day, 
as  we  take  our  daily  food — every  hour,  in  the 
secret  closet  of  the  heart ; — such  prayer,  when  it 
has  become  the  habit  of  the  soul,  and  is  not  the 
mere  babble  of  the  lips,  is  as  sure  to  be  answered 
as  bodily  health  and  vigor  are  sure  to  follow 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  health. 

And  the  reason  is  plain  ;  for  it  is  in  the  nature 
of  true  prayer  to  operate  upon  the  interiors  of 
the  suppliant.  It  is  in  its  nature  to  open  the 
inner  avenues  of  the  soul,  through  which  flow  the 
light  and  warmth  of  the  upper  spheres.  The 
Lord  is  ever  ready  to  give.  All  we  need  to  do, 
is  to  put  ourselves  in  an  attitude  to  receive.  We 
must,  therefore,  desire  the  heavenly  life — must 
long  for  it,  strive  for  it,  pray  for  it,  and — obey  the 
Divine  behests. 

Pray,  then,  for  light  to  enable  you  to  discern 
your  evil  inclinations,  and  power  to  overcome 
them,  and  new  strength  will  be  given  you  day  by 
day.  When  your  pathway  seems  dark,  pray  that 
the  Lord  will  shine  upon  it,  and  the  light  of  his 
countenance  will  guide  you.  When  a  wilderness 
of  difficulty  is  before  you,  and  you  know  not 
which  way  to  turn,  look  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  humble  faith  and  earnest  prayer,  and  He  will 
be  to  you  a  cloud  by  day  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by 


Prayer. 


171 


night.  When  you  go  to  your  daily  duties,  pray 
that  his  Spirit  may  go  with  you  and  shield  you 
from  the  tempter's  snare,  and  keep  you  diligent 
and  kind  and  just  and  faithful,  and  the  coveted 
blessing  will  not  be  withheld.  If  in  your  family, 
your  business,  or  your  social  relations,  you  have 
peculiar  trials,  pray  that  the  Lord  will  give  you 
grace  to  bear  them  with  meekness  and  patience, 
and  your  prayer  will  certainly  be  answered. 
Pray  for  a  blessing  on  your  enemy,  if  you  have 
one ;  and  the  very  petition,  if  sincere  and  earnest, 
will  stjften  your  heart  toward  that  enemy,  and  so 
bring  down  a  blessing  on  yourself — perhaps  on 
him  likewise.  Pray  for  the  prosperity  of  a  right- 
eous cause,  and  your  prayer  will  be  answered — in 
this,  if  in  no  other  way :  It  will  open  your  soul 
to  a  fresh  influx  of  God's  grace,  and  bind  your 
heart  more  strongly  to  that  cause.  Pray  for  the 
poor,  the  sick,  the  tempted,  the  sorrowing,  and 
you  will  grow  more  into  sympathy  with  them, 
and  your  heart  will  be  imbued  with  a  sweeter, 
tenderer  and  broader  humanity.  Pray  for  the 
persecuted,  the  down-trodden  and  enslaved,  and 
your  prayers,  oft-repeated,  will  open  within  you 
the  gates  of  heaven,  through  which  the  Lord  will 
pour  his  grace  upon  you  more  abundantly,  mak- 
ing you  more  tender  and  compassionate  like  Him- 
self; — making  you  feel  more  sensibly  the  wrongs 
of  others,  and  nerving  you  with  fresh  courage 


172     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


and  resolution  to  do  your  part  toward  breaking 
their  bands  asunder. 

And  since  thought  and  affection  have  extension, 
prayer  for  the  sinning,  the  sick  and  the  sorrowing, 
may  sometimes  (according  to  the  depth  or  inten- 
sity of  the  desire,  and  the  condition  of  the  person 
prayed  for)  be  effectual  in  removing  the  malign 
and  infesting  spheres,  and  thereby  bringing  the  in- 
dividual into  new  and  more  orderly  relations  with 
the  Lord  and  heaven. 

Thus  it  is  that  sincere  prayer  for  whatever 
is  just  and  pure  and  righteous — prayer  that  the 
Lord's  kingdom  of  truth  and  love  may  be  estab- 
lished and  built  up — is  always  answered.  For 
such  prayer  tends,  by  an  unfailing  law,  to  bind 
the  affections  of  the  petitioner  more  closely  to  the 
things  of  his  kingdom.  It  is  among  the  divinely 
appointed  means  of  drawing  the  soul  into  closer 
fellowship  with  the  Lord,  and  renewing  us  after 
his  own  Divine  likeness.  And  this  is  the  end  of 
all  prayer, — as  indeed  it  is  of  all  doctrine,  of  all 
faith,  of  all  instruction,  of  all  obedience. 

"  Prayer  in  itself  considered,"  says  Sweden- 
borg,  "  is  discourse  with  God ;  and,  moreover,  a 
certain  internal  view  of  those  things  which  are 
properly  the  objects  of  prayer ;  so  that  at  such 
time  there  is  a  kind  of  opening  of  a  man's  inter- 
nals toward  God — but  this  with  a  difference  de- 
pendent on  the  man's  state  and  the  nature  of  the 
things  prayed  for.     If  the  prayer  spring  from 


Prayer, 


173 


love  and  faith,  and  it  is  only  celestial  and  spiritual 
things  for  which  he  prays,  then  in  prayer  there  is 
something  like  a  revelation  which  manifests  itself 
in  the  affection  of  the  person  praying,  as  to  hope, 
consolation,  or  some  inward  joy."    (A.  C.  2535.) 

The  Highest  Kind  of  Worship. 

Formal .  worship — praying  orally  on  bended 
knees  in  the  temple  or  the  closet — was  the  only 
kind  of  worship  that  Christians  generally  thought 
of  a  hundred  years  ago.  But  Swedenborg,  with- 
out in  the  least  discouraging  this  practice,  tells  us 
of  another  and  higher  kind — a  worship  which  con- 
sists in  the  conscientious  and  faithful  performance 
of  each  one's  daily  duties,  and  for  which  it  is  the 
chief  end  of  oral  prayer  to  fit  and  prepare  us. 
And  this  higher  kind  of  worship  is  held  by  the 
New  Church  to  be  that  of  all  true  worshipers — 
that  of  which  the  Bible  speaks — that  which  the 
Heavenly  Father  especially  approves  and  loves, 
and  which  is  said  to  be  in  "  spirit  and  in  truth 
a  worship  offered  continually,  and  in  all  places 
where  the  voice  of  duty  is  reverently  heeded — 
where  sorrow  and  suffering  are  patiently  borne, 
where  loving  service  is  faithfully  rendered,  and 
useful  work  of  whatever  kind  is  honestly  done. 
To  cite  two  or  three  passages  by  way  of  confirma- 
tion : 

By  the  worship  of  God  at  this  day,  is  meant 
15* 


174    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

principally  the  worship  of  the  mouth  in  a  temple 
morning_and  evening.  But  the  worship  of  God 
does  not  consist  essentially  in  this,  but  in  a  life 
of  uses."    (A.  C.  n.  7884.) 

"  He  who  thinks  that  the  worship  of  the  Lord 
consists  solely  in  frequenting  the  temple,  hearing 
preaching  there,  and  praying,  and  that  this  is 
enough,  is  much  deceived.  The  real  worship  of 
the  Lord  consists  in  the  performance  of  uses;  and 
uses  consist,  during  a  man's  life  in  the  world,  in 
the  faithful  discharge  of  every  one's  duty  in  his 
particular  vocation ;  that  is,  in  serving  his  coun- 
try, society  and  his  neighbor  from  the  heart,  in 
acting  with  sincerity  in  all  his  relations,  and  in 
performing  duties  prudently  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  each.  These  uses  are  in  the  highest  de- 
gree the  exercises  of  charity,  and  those  whereby 
the  Lord  is  principally  worshiped.  Frequenting 
the  temple,  listening  to  sermons,  and  saying  pray- 
ers are  also  necessary;  but  without  uses,  they  are 
of  no  avail,  for  they  are  not  of  the  life,  but  teach 
what  the  quality  of  the  life  should  be.  The  an- 
gels in  heaven  have  all  their  happiness  from  uses 
and  according  to  uses,  insomuch  that  uses  are  to 
them  heaven, .  .  .  these  being  the  things  according 
to  which  happiness  is  there  given,  and  by  which 
the  Lord  is  principally  worshiped."   (A.  C.  7038.) 

"A  man,  while  he  lives  in  the  world,  should 
not  omit  the  practice  of  external  worship,  for  by 
this  internal  things  are  excited  ;  and  external 
things  are  kept  by  external  worship  in  a  state  of 
sanctity,  so  that  internal  things  can  flow  in."  (A. 
C.  1618.)  "  Yet  [the  real]  wor,-hip  does  not  con- 
sist in  prayers  and  outward  devotion,  but  in  a  life 


Divine  Providence, 


175 


of  charity.  .  .  .  The  life  of  charity  is  the  essential 
of  worship,  and  posture  and  prayer  its  instru- 
mental ;  or,  the  primary  part  of  worship  is  a  life 
of  charity,  and  its  secondary  is  praying.  From 
which  it  is  evident  that  they  who  place  all  divine 
worship  in  oral  and  not  in  actual  piety,  err  ex- 
ceedingly. Actual  piety  is  to  act  in  every  work 
and  office  from  sincerity  and  rectitude,  and  accord- 
ing to  what  is  just  and  equitable ;  and  this,  be- 
cause it  is  commanded  by  the  Lord  in  the  Word.'' 
(Ap.  Ex.  325.) 


XXIII. — Divine  Providence. 

Among  all  the  interesting  and  sublime  dis- 
closures which  the  Lord  has  been  pleased  to 
make  for  the  use  of  his  New  Church,  few  are 
more  important  in  a  practical  point  of  view,  than 
the  doctrine  concerning  the  Divine  Providence. 
Within  the  whole  compass  of  theological  litera- 
ture, we  know  of  nothing  to  be  compared  with 
Swedenborg's  treatise  on  this  subject,  either  in 
depth  of  wisdom,  breadth  of  thought,  conclusive- 
ness of  reasoning,  or  capability  of  satisfying  the 
cravings  of  both  head  and  heart. 

Agreeable  to  these  disclosures,  the  New  Church 
believes  and  teaches  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
blind  chance ;  that  the  universe  in  general,  and  in 
all  its  minutest  particulars,  is  governed  by  infinite 


176     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

Love  which  is  guided  in  all  its  operations  by  an ' 
infinite  Wisdom  ;  that  the  great  end  of  creation 
was  a  heaven  of  angels  from  the  human  race — an 
end  which  Divine  Providence  is  perpetually  seek- 
ing ;  that  this  end  is  pursued  not  blindly,  nor  in 
any  arbitrary  manner,  but  in  conformity  to  the 
eternal  laws  of  Divine  order,  which  Providence  is 
ever  striving  to  make  men  understand  and  obey; 
that,  among  the  many  and  beautiful  laws  of 
Divine  Providence,  are  included  also  the  laws  of 
permission,  under  which  physical  and  moral  evils 
fall,  all  of  which  are  permitted  for  the  sake  of  a 
wise  and  beneficent  end. 

This  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Providence  assures 
us  of  the  Lord's  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  in  all 
that  He  perjnits  us  to  suffer,  as  well  as  in  all  that 
his  love  provides.  It  teaches  that  He  has  supreme 
regard,  not  merely  to  our  present  and  temporal, 
but  to  our  future  and  eternal,  welfare  ;  that,  if  He 
permits  us  to  be  crucified  outwardly,  it  is  that  we 
may  thereby  be  purified  inwardly ;  and  if  He  suf- 
fers us  to  be  afflicted  in  time,  it  is  that  we  may 
thereby  be  made  happier  through  eternity.  It 
teaches  that  Infinite  Love  never  forsakes  one 
human  soul, — no,  not  even  in  that  soul's  darkest 
and  guiltiest  hour ;  that  this  Love  pursues  every 
individual  through  all  his  devious  wanderings, — 
sometimes  with  warning  and  entreaty,  sometimes 
with  rebuke  and  chastisement, — always  yearning 


Divine  Providence. 


177 


to  save  and  bless ;  that  it  orders  or  permits  each 
smallest  circumstance  of  our  lives,  and  overrules 
all  our  outward  ills — all  sicknesses,  disappoint- 
ments, losses  and  sorrows,  for  our  highest  ulti- 
mate good. 

Only  those  who  have  experienced  the  cheering 
and  strengthening  influence  of  this  doctrine  in 
dark  hours  and  amid  the  stern  trials  and  rough 
conflicts  of  life,  can  know  how  replete  it  is  with 
encouragement,  comfort  and  inward  support. 
Addressing  itself  to  the  intellect  not  less  than 
to  the  heart,  it  leads  the  receiver  to  a  joyful  rec- 
ognition of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  Love  in  every 
event,  and  so  holds  the  creature  in  perpetual  and 
blissful  communion  with  his  Creator. 

"The  Divine  Providence  of  the  Lord,'^  says 
Swedenborg,  "extends  to  the  most  particular 
things  of  a  man's  life;  for  there  is  only  one 
Fountain  of  life  which  is  the  Lord,  from  whom 
we  are,  live,  and  act. 

"  They  who  think  from  worldly  things  about 
the  Divine  Providence,  conclude  from  them  that 
it  is  only  universal,  and  that  particulars  appertain 
to  man.  But  such  persons  do  not  know  the  arcana 
of  heaven  ;  for  they  form  their  conclusions  only 
from  the  loves  of  self  and  the  world,  and  their 
pleasures.  Therefore,  when  they  see  the  evil  ex- 
alted to  honors,  and  acquiring  wealth  more  than 
the  good,  and  that  success  attends  them  according 
to  their  artifices,  they  say  in  their  hearts  that  this 
would  not  be  the  case  if  the  Divine  Providence 
were  in  all  and  singular  things ;  not  considering 
M 


178     The  JJoctrines  of  the  Neio  Church, 

that  the  Divine  Providence  does  not  regard  that 
which  shortly  passes  awav,  and  ends  with  man's 
life  in  the  world,  but  that  it  regards  what  remains 
to  eternity."*    (X.  J.  D.  268r'69.) 

"The  Divine  Providence  is  universal,  that  is,  in 
the  smallest  particulars ;  and  they  who  are  in  the 
stream  of  Providence  are  continually  conveyed  to 
happiness,  whatever  be  the  appearance  of  the 
means  ;  and  they  are  in  the  stream  of  Providence 
who  put  their  trust  in  the  Divine  and  attribute 
all  things  to  Him  ;  and  they  are  not  in  the  stream 
of  Providence  who  trust  to  themselves  alone  and 
attribute  all  things  to  themselves  ;  for  they  are  in 
the  opposite  principle,  since  they  refuse  to  allow 
a  providence  to  the  Divine,  and  claim  it  to  them- 
selves. It  is  to  be  observed,  also,  that  so  far  as 
any  one  is  in  the  stream  of  Providence,  he  is  in  a 
state  of  peace ;  and  so  far  as  one  is  in  a  state  of 
peace  grounded  in  the  good  of  faith,  he  is  in  the 
Divine  Providence.  These  alone  know  and  be- 
lieve that  the  Divine  Providence  of  the  Lord  is 
in  all  and  singular  things,  yea,  in  the  most  sin- 
gular of  all ;  and  that  it  regards  what  is  eternal. 
But  they  who  are  in  the  opposite  principle  are 
scarcely  willing  to  hear  Providence  mentioned, 
but  refer  all  and  singular  things  to  prudence ; 
and  what  they  do  not  refer  to  prudence,  they  re- 
fer to  fortune  or  chance ;  some  to  fate,  which 
they  do  not  educe  from  the  Divine  but  from  na- 
ture,— calling  those  simple  who  do  not  attrib- 
ute all  things  to  themselves  or  to  nature."  (A.  C. 
8478.) 

*  For  an  extended  and  exhaustive  treatment  of  this  subject,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Vol.  IV.  of  the  "  Swedenborg  Library,"  which 
treats  throughout  of  the  "  Divine  Providence  and  its  Laws." 


Freedom, 


179 


XXIY. — Freedom. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  freedom  which  it  is 
important  to  distinguish.  There  is  natural  free- 
dom and  spiritual  freedom — freedom  of  the  body 
and  freedom  of  the  soul ;  civil  freedom  and  relig- 
ious freedom ;  intellectual  freedom  and  moral 
freedom ;  the  freedom  of  heaven  and  the  freedom 
of  hell.  But  there  is  only  one  kind  of  true  spirit- 
ual freedom ;  and  this  is  freedom  from  the  con- 
trolling influence  of  the  selfish  and  evil  proclivi- 
ties of  the  unregenerate  heart ;  freedom  from  the 
dominion  of  passion,  appetite,  avarice,  hatred, 
love  of  self,  and  lust  of  power  for  selfish  ends ; 
a  complete  mastery  over  all  the  lower  and  selfish 
propensities  of  our  nature,  and  a  positive  delight 
in  the  free  and  healthy  exercise  of  our  higher  and 
nobler  faculties.  In  other  words,  the  true  free- 
dom is  to  yield  ourselves  willingly  and  joyfully  to 
the  prompting  influences  of  heaven ;  to  be  led 
and  governed  in  all  our  feelings,  purposes  and 
conduct,  by  the  Lord  and  his  angels,  and  not  by 
self  or  the  spirits  that  are  imbued  and  swayed  by 
the  love  of  self.  The  true  freedom,  therefore, 
differs  from  the  spurious,  as  hatred  differs  from 
love,  good  from  evil,  heaven  from  hell. 

Such  is  the  declared  doctrine  of  heaven,  and 
such  the  teaching  of  the  Xew  Church  on  this  sub- 
ject.    Accordingly  Swedcnborg  says — and  the 


180    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


same  teaching  is  many  times  repeated  in  his  writ- 
ings; 

"  All  that  is  called  freedom,  which  pertains  to 
the  will  or  love  Hence  it  is  that  freedom  mani- 
fests itself  by  the  delight  of  willing  and  thinking, 
and  thence  of  doing  and  speaking ;  for  all  delight 
is  of  love,  and  all  love  is  of  the  will.  To  do  evil 
from  the  delight  of  love  appears  like  freedom,  but 
it  is  slavery  because  it  is  from  hell.  To  do  good 
from  the  delight  of  love  appears  like  freedom,  and 
also  is  freedom  because  it  is  from  the  Lord.  Sla- 
very, therefore,  consists  in  being  led  of  hell,  and 
freedom  in  being  led  of  the  Lord."  (A.  C.  n.  9586.) 

"  The  freedom  of  self-love  and  the  love  of  the 
world  and  of  the  lusts  thereof,  is  quite  another 
thing  than  freedom,  being  altogether  slavery;  but 
still  it  is  called  freedom,  just  as  love,  affection  and 
delight  are  called  by  these  names,  whether  used  in 
a  good  or  bad  sense.  Nevertheless  self-love  and 
the  love  of  the  world  are  totally  different  from 
love,  being  in  reality  hatred."    (A.  C.  n.  2884.) 

There  is  heavenly  freedom  and  infernal  free- 
dom. Heavenly  freedom  consists  in  being  led  of 
the  Lord ;  and  this  freedom  is  the  love  of  what  is 
good  and  true.  But  infernal  freedom  consists  in 
being  led  of  the  devil;  and  this  freedom  is  the 
love  of  evil  and  falsity.  They  who  are  in  infernal 
freedom  think  there  is  slavery  and  compulsion  in 
not  being  allowed  to  do  evil  and  think  falsity  at 
pleasure ;  but  they  who  are  in  heavenly  freedom 
dread  to  do  evil  and  to  think  what  is  false,  and 
are  tormented  if  they  are  compelled  to."  (A.  C. 
n.  9589,  '90.) 


Catholieity, 


181 


XXY. — Catholicity. 

Catholicity  is  not  properly  a  doctrine ^  but  rather 
a  spirit  or  characteristic.  Yet  its  presence  in,  or 
its  absence  from,  any  church  or  system  of  doc- 
trines, is  a  pretty  good  indication  of  the  general 
character  of  that  system  or  church.  Catholicity 
is  the  opposite  of  bigotry,  or  the  narrow  and  ex- 
clusive spirit  of  sect.  And  the  student  of  eccle- 
siastical history  knows  that  sectarianism  has  been 
the  bane  of  the  Christian  Church  almost  from  its 
commencement.  And  although  less  virulent  now 
than  formerly,  it  still  hovers  around  our  ecclesi- 
astical bodies,  displaying  its  dark  and  repulsive 
shadow  and  causing  its  malign  influence  to  be 
felt  in  nearly  all  the  churches. 

But  the  authorized  teachings  of  the  New  Church 
are  free  from  the  least  taint  of  anything  like  sec- 
tarianism. Their  spirit  is  large,  free,  comprehen- 
sive, and  inclusive  as  the  angelic  heavens — yea,  as 
the  Divine  Love  itself,  of  which  they  are  a  true 
revelation  and  grand  expression.  They  do  not 
teach  nor  encourage  the  belief,  that  the  followers 
of  the  Lord  are,  or  will  ever  be,  all  organized  under 
one  name,  or  worship  according  to  one  and  the 
same  ritual,  or  profess  one  and  the  same  creed-^ 
unless,  indeed,  that  creed  be  extremely  brief  and 
simple.  They  teach  us  rather  to  expect  endless 
variety  in  the  church  of  Christ.  Why  should 
IG 


182    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

there  not  be  ?  Variety  is  observable  everywhere 
throughout  the  universe — visibly  stamped  on  all 
created  things.  We  see  it  alike  in  the  stars  above 
and  in  the  earth  beneath ;  alike  in  beasts  and 
birds,  forests  and  fields,  mountains  a^nd  clouds, 
fishes  and  flowers.  And  the  writings  of  the  New 
Church  teach  us  to  expect  that  there  will  ever  be 
a  like  variety  in  the  church  of  God — a  variety  in 
doctrine  and  ritual  as  well  as  in  the  kinds  and  de- 
grees of  goodness,  corresponding  to  the  variety 
among  the  organs  of  the  human  body.  Such  va- 
riety exists  in  the  angelic  heavens.  Yet,  with  an 
endless  diversity  in  character  and  in  degrees  of 
illumination  there,  the  angels,  by  virtue  of  their 
kindred  ruling  purpose  and  their  common  union 
with  the  one  true  and  living  Head,  are  all  bound 
as  lovingly  to  each  other,  and  work  as  freely  and 
harmoniously  together,  as  the  various  members 
of  the  human  body.  And  we  should  expect  that 
something  like  this  will  exist  among  men  on  earth 
when  the  life  of  God  descends  into  the  churches 
with  power  and  fulness,  or  when  the  Father's  will 
shall  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 

The  great  Apostle  clearly  justifies  such  ex- 
pectation when  he  says :  "  The  body  is  not  one 
member  but  many ;  "  and  that  the  members  ought 
to  have  "  the  same  care  one  of  another."  A  beau- 
tiful illustration  of  variety  in  unity!  For  what 
is  more  various  in  form  and  function  than  the 


Catholicity.  183 


multitudinous  parts  of  the  human  body?  Yet 
how  closely  and  lovingly  are  they  all  united,  and 
with  what  perfect  harmony  do  they  work  together, 
each  rejoicing  or  suffering  with  all  the  rest !  This 
illustrates  Paul's  idea  of  the  church  of  Christ; 
for  he  adds  :  '^Now  ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
members  in  particular." 

But  sectarianism  is  forever  opposed  to  this 
catholic  doctrine.  It  is  unable  to  see  how  unity 
can  co-exist  with  variety.  It  regards  diversity 
as  incompatible  with  harmony.  In  its  own  nature 
contracted  and  conceited,  it  cannot  admit  that 
there  is  any  saving  truth  outside  of  its  own 
formulas,  or  any  real  goodness  different  from  its 
own  variety,  or  any  true  church  beyond  its  own 
narrow  pale.  It  makes  its  own  creed  the  test  of 
all  others,  and  approves  or  condemns  according  as 
they  agree  or  fail  to  agree  with  this  assumed 
standard.  It  never  encourages  independent  and 
manly  thought,  nor  invites  to  free  and  rational 
inquiry ;  for  it  knows  that  some  degree  of  doctrinal 
difference  is  sure  to  result  from  this.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  seeks  by  various  arts  and  endless  ma- 
chinery— by  pains  and  penalties,  social  ostracism, 
church  censures  and  withdrawal  of  fellowship — r 
to  discourage  free  inquiry,  and  compel  a  dead  and 
barren  uniformity.  Sectarianism,  therefore,  is  un- 
friendly alike  to  religious  progress  and  Christian 
union.    Its  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  anti-Christ;— 


184    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


not  large,  generous,  loving  and  all-embracing,  but 
narrow,  selfish,  conceited  and  unprogressive. 

The  very  opposite  of  all  this  are  the  spirit  and 
doctrines  of  the  New  Church.  These  doctrines 
everywhere  exalt  charity  or  love  above  faith  or 
belief,  and  teach  us  to  judge  people  by  their  lives 
rather  than  by  their  creeds.  They  teach  us  to 
think  and  speak  as  kindly  of  those  who  differ  from, 
as  of  those  who  agree  with  us  in  doctrine,  and  to 
regard  and  treat  as  brethren  in  Christ,  all  who  ex- 
hibit a  Christian  temper  and  live  a  Christian  life. 
They  teach  us  that  all  who  have  the  Master's 
spirit,  are  owned  and  accepted  of  Him ;  that 
perfect  agreement  in  forms  of  faith  is  neither  to 
be  expected  nor  desired  ;  that  variety  is  the  truly 
divine  order  in  the  moral  no  less  than  in  the 
physical  universe  ;  that  the  Word  of  God  is  an 
infinite  Fountain  where  all  souls  may  drink  and 
be  refreshed  ; — a  Fountain  from  which  some  may 
draw  higher  and  purer,  otbers  lower  and  cruder, 
forms  of  truth,  according  to  the  purity  of  their 
motives,  the  strength  of  their  trust,  the  measure 
of  their  obedience,  and  the  completeness  of  their 
self-abnegation.  They  teach  us  that  there  are 
"many  mansions"  in  the  heavenly  Father's 
house,  corresponding  to  the  many  kinds  and  de- 
grees of  good  in  men,  and  to  the  many  forms  of 
faith  or  phases  of  truth ;  and  that  all  who  earnestly 
seek  to  know  and  humbly  strive  to  do  his  will, 


Catholicity,  185 


may  be  sure  of  an  eternal  abode  in  some  one  of 
the  mansions  prepared  for  the  blessed. 

Let  such  teaching  as  this  be  generally  accepted 
and  promulgated  for  Gospel  truth  (as  it  really  is), 
and  exemplified  in  the  teachers'  lives,  and  the 
mischievous  spirit  of  sect  would  soon  take  its  de- 
parture as  owls  and  bats  fly  to  their  coverts  at  the 
rising  of  the  sun.  And  in  its  place  would  come 
a  broad  and  Christian  catholicity,  rejoicing  the 
hearts  of  good  men  on  earth  and  angels  in 
heaven.  Then,  instead  of  antagonistic  sects 
warring  against  and  weakening  each  other,  we 
should  soon  have  one  harmonious  and  united 
church, — a  church  all  the  more  beautiful  and  per- 
fect on  account  of  its  diversity,  just  as  the  ex- 
cellence of  a  band  of  music  is  increased  by  the 
variety  of  instruments,  or  the  beauty  of  a  garden 
by  the  variety  of  its  trees  and  flowers. 

One  might  easily  fill  a  volume  with  extracts 
from  Swedenborg  in  confirmation  of  the  above 
statements.  But  in  lieu  of  quotations,  we  will 
simply  refer  the  reader  to  Yol.  III.  of  the  "  Swe- 
denborg Library,"  pp.  73  to  205,  where  he  will 
find  the  amplest  justification  of  all  that  we  have 
here  said, — and  teaching  that  forms  a  striking 
contrast,  in  point  of  catholicity,  to  that  which 
has  hitherto  been  off'ered  and  accepted  in  the 
Christian  church. 
16* 


186    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


XXYI. — Spiritual  Spheres. 

The  doctrine  of  mental  or  spiritual  spheres  was 
unknown  to  the  first  Christian  Church.  And  to 
the  great  majority  of  Christians  even  in  our  own 
day,  it  is  entirely  new.  But  nearly  every  one 
recognizes  its  truth  as  soon  as  it  is  clearly  stated ; 
yet  not  until  it  is  thoughtfully  pondered,  can  we 
expect  one  to  see  how  important  it  is  in  a  prac- 
tical point  of  view. 

It  is  easy  to  believe  that  there  are  particles  too 
small  for  the  eye  to  discern  even  by  the  aid  of  the 
most  powerful  microscope,  constantly  emanating 
from  all  material  objects,  and  forming  around 
each  a  kind  of  atmosphere  which,  in  its  essential 
nature,  is  similar  to  the  object  itself.  This  atmos- 
phere is  generally  too  refined  and  subtle  to  be 
detected  by  the  senses ;  yet  its  existence  round 
about  thousands  of  objects,  often  manifests  itself 
to  the  sense  of  smell ;  and  in  a  dog  this  sense  is 
so  acute  that  he  can  scent  his  master's  sphere  in 
the  print  of  his  shoes,  and  distinguish  his  tracks 
from  all  others  many  hours  after  they  were  made. 
The  perfume  of  the  lily  or  the  rose,  is  but  the  ex- 
tension of  the  flower's  own  substance — the  radia- 
tion or  emanation  of  its  own  essence  in  the  most 
subtile  form.  And  so  of  all  other  objects  that 
diffuse  an  odor,  grateful  or  otherwise. 

From  the  analogies  of  nature,  therefore,  it  is 


Spiritual  Spheres.  187 


reasonable  to  conclude  that  souls  also  have  their 
encompassing  spheres;  and  that  these  must  be 
spiritual,  and  of  the  same  quality  in  every  case  as 
the  souls  whence  they  emanate.  We  should  ex- 
pect that  every  mind  would  have  an  encompass- 
ing atmosphere  similar  in  its  essential  nature  to 
the  mind  itself ;  that  thought,  true  or  false — af- 
fection, good  or  evil — would  have  extension,  and 
exert  an  unconscious  influence  upon  other  minds, 
healthful  or  baleful  according  to  its  own  nature. 
We  should  expect  that  every  heart  would  con- 
stantly carry  with  it  its  own  sphere — a  sphere 
more  penetrating  and  powerful,  especially  in  its 
effect  on  the  young  and  persons  oftenest  within 
its  reach,  than  any  oral  or  written  instruction. 
We  should  expect,  therefore,  that  there  would  be 
spheres  of  selfishness,  hatred,  conceit,  pride,  jeal- 
ousy, avarice,  contempt  and  revenge  ;  spheres  of 
doubt,  fear,  anxiety,  melancholy,  discouragement 
and  despair ;  also  spheres  of  an  opposite  charac- 
ter— spheres  of  love,  joy,  peace,  humility,  rever- 
ence, resignation  and  confiding  trust ;  and  that 
the  particular  character  or  quality  of  the  spiritual 
sphere  emanating  from  and  encompassing  each 
individual,  would  be  in  all  cases  according  to  the 
character  of  that  individual — not  according  to  his 
words  or  outward  actions,  unless  these  were  in 
agreement  with  his  internal  feelings  and  pur- 
poses.   The  spiritual  sphere  being  the  unavoida- 


188    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


ble  and  unconscious  outgoing  of  the  individual's 
inner  and  real  life,  should  be — must  be — of  pre- 
cisely the  same  nature  as  that  life ;  heavenly  or 
hellish  (in  varying  degrees)  according  as  the 
life's  love  is  angelic  or  infernal. 

And  any  one  of  much  spiritual  discernment,  or 
who  is  at  all  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  men- 
tal spheres,  if  he  has  ever  been  long  in  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  very  saintly  or  very  vile  per- 
sons, knows  from  personal  experience  that  what 
we  have  here  spoken  of  as  altogether  reasonable, 
is  actually  true.  In  the  humble  cabin  or  poorly 
furnished  chamber  of  some  saintly  soul,  how 
many  have  often  felt  a  sweet  and  heavenly  peace 
as  perceptibly  as  he  ever  smelled  the  perfume  of 
clover-blossoms  or  new-made  hay ! — an  experi- 
ence inexplicable  upon  any  other  theory  than  that 
of  the  existence  of  spiritual  spheres.  Accord- 
ingly Swedenborg  says : 

"  In  the  spiritual  world  the  will  or  love  of 
every  one  constitutes  the  whole  man ;  and  a 
sphere  of  life  thence  proceeds  from  him  as  an 
exhalation  or  vapor,  and  encompasses  him,  and 
makes  as  it  were  himself  around  him  ;  like  the 
effluvium  encompassing  vegetables  in  the  world, 
which  is  also  made  sensible  at  a  distance  by 
odors ;  like  that  also  encompassing  beasts,  of 
which  a  saiyacious  dog  is  exquisitely  sensible." 
(A.  C.  10,130.) 

"  Man  does  not  know  that  a  certain  spiritual 


Spiritual  Spfm^es. 


189 


sphere  encompasses  him  according  to  the  life  of 
his  affection,  which  sphere  is  more  perceptible  to 
the  angels  than  a  sphere  of  odor  is  to  the  most 
exquisite  sense  in  the  world.  If  his  life  has  been 
in  external  things  alone,  viz.,  in  pleasures  derived 
from  hatred  against  his  neighbor,  from  revenge 
and  consequent  cruelty,  from  adultery,  self-exal- 
tation and  the  consequent  contempt  of  others, 
from  clandestine  rapine,  avarice,  deceit,  luxury 
and  the  like,  the  spiritual  sphere  which  encom- 
passes him  is  as  foul  and  offensive  as  is  the  sphere 
of  odor  in  the  world  arising  from  dead  bodies, 
dunghills,  stinking  filth,  and  the  like.  The  man 
who  had  led  such  a  life,  carries  this  sphere  along 
with  him  after  death  ;  and  because  he  is  entirely 
in  that  sphere,  he  cannot  be  anywhere  but  in  hell 
where  such  spheres  exist. 

But  they  who  are  in  internal  things,  viz., 
who  have  had  delight  in  benevolence  and  charity 
toward  their  neighbor,  and  especially  who  have 
found  blessedness  in  love  to  the  Lord,  are  encom- 
passed with  a  grateful  and  pleasant  sphere  which 
is  essentially  celestial ;  on  which  account  they  are 
in  heaven.  The  spheres  which  are  perceived  in 
the  other  life,  all  arise  from  the  loves  and  conse- 
quent affections  in  which  the  spirits  had  been 
principled,  consequently  from  the  life ;  for  loves 
and  consequent  affections  make  the  very  life  itself. 
And  since  they  arise  from  loves  and  consequent 
affections,  they  arise  from  the  intentions  and  ends 
for  the  sake  of  which  man  so  wills  and  acts.  For 
every  one  has  for  an  end  what  he  loves ;  there- 
fore ends  determine  a  man's  life,  and  constitute 
its  quality.  Hence  especially  is  his  sphere."  (A. 
C.  4464.) 


190    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

The  same  illumined  author  further  says,  that 
in  the  other  world  these  spiritual  spheres  some- 
times manifest  themselves  as  odors — offensive  or 
fragrant,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  sphere ; 
''for  odors  correspond  to  spheres."  The  sphere 
of  those  who  have  acted  the  part  of  hypocrites 
so  habitually  that  they  have  contracted  a  hypo- 
critical nature,  "  when  changed  into  an  odor,  is 
like  the  stench  of  vomit,"  this  being  the  corre- 
spondence of  such  a  sphere.  And  the  sphere  of 
those  who  have  lived  in  hatred,  revenge  and  cru- 
elty, "  when  changed  into  an  odor,  has  the  stench 
of  a  putrid  carcass."  While  "such  as  have  been 
immersed  in  sordid  avarice,  give  forth  a  stench 
like  that  of  mice."  But  when  the  spheres  of 
saintly  souls — such  as  have  lived  in  charity  and 
faith — "are  perceived  as  odors,  they  are  most  de- 
lightful ;  the  odors  are  sweet  and  delicious  like 
those  of  flowers  and  spices  of  divers  kinds,  with 
an  indefinite  variety."    (A.  C.  1514,  1519.) 

Now,  let  this  doctrine  concerning  spiritual 
spheres  be  cordially  accepted,  and  it  is  plain  that 
its  practical  tendency  and  legitimate  effect  upon 
the  receiver  must  be  most  salutary.  It  shows 
the  parent  and  guardian  and  teacher  and  all  who 
have  the  shaping  of  other  minds,  that  it  is  not  so 
much  what  they  seem  or  say  or  do,  as  what  they 
are — not  what  they  are  outwardly  but  what  they 
are  inwardly — not  so  much  their  oral  instruction, 


Marriage  and  the  Sexes.  191 


wise  or  otherwise,  as  the  vital  currents  of  thought 
and  feeling  perpetually  flowing  forth  from  their 
innermost  and  ruling  love,  that  moulds  the  char- 
acter of  those  under  their  charge.  Their  own 
spiritual  sphere — the  unconscious  but  resistless 
influence  of  their  cherished  thoughts  and  purposes 
— this,  as  a  formative  and  educatory  power,  is 
vastly  more  potent  than  any  instruction  by  word 
or  printed  page.  It  is  this  spiritual  atmosphere, 
extensive  and  far-reaching  enough  to  encompass 
a  multitude  of  younger  and  feebler  minds,  that 
the  souls  of  our  children  are  inhaling  continually 
— day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour.  How  important, 
then,  that  this  atmosphere  be  pure  and  sweet — as 
the  breath  of  heaven-  fresh  wafted  from  the  throne 
of  God! 


XXVII. — Marriage  and  the  Sexes. 

The  institution  of  marriage  has  ever  been  held 
in  honor  by  Christians  generally ;  yet  there  are  few 
subjects  on  which  even  educated  people  in  nearly 
all  the  churches  of  to-day,  are  more  profoundly 
ignorant,  or  on  which  instruction  is  more  needed, 
than  the  nature  of  true  marriage ;  and  none  on 
which  the  teachings  of  Swedenborg  have  been 
more  strangely  misapprehended,  or  their  meaning 
more  grossly  perverted. 

A  right  understanding  and  thorough  apprecia- 


192    The  Doctrines  of  the  Xew  CJiurch, 

tioa  of  the  divine  institution  of  marriage,  will  be 
found  to  be  intimately  connected  with  the  best 
Christian  nurture,  and  the  fullest  development  of 
the  Christian  life  and  character.  For  the  starting- 
point  in  the  noblest  human  growth,  and  the  chief 
centre  of  influence  in  the  most  advanced  civiliza- 
tion, is  unquestionably  the  family  institution. 
And  this  institution  can  never  become  what  God 
intended  it  should  be — the  birthplace  and  nursery 
of  angels — save  in  the  degree  that  it  receives  the 
enlightening  and  warming  beams  of  the  spiritual 
Sun ;  and  the  measure  in  which  these  beams  are 
received,  will  depend  on  the  degree  in  which  hus- 
bands and  wives  understand  and  acknowledge  the 
source  and  nature  of  true  marriage,  and  on  their 
mutual  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  its  sacred  obli- 
gations. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  an  important  change 
in  the  popular  estimate  of  woman,  has  taken  place 
throughout  Christendom  during  the  last  hundred 
years.  She  has  come  to  be  thought  of  and  treated 
more  as  the  equal  of  man — more  as  the  inspirer 
of  his  best  thoughts  and  noblest  deeds,  and  the 
equal  partner  in,  and  sharer  of,  his  burdens,  trials, 
duties  and  responsibilities.  To  fit  her  for  this 
higher  sphere,  the  opportunities  for  broader  cul- 
ture and  higher  education  are  everywhere  be- 
ginning to  be  offered  her.  The  doors  of  our  best 
colleges  and  highest  schools  of  learning,  are  being 


Marriage  and  the  Sexes,  193 


thrown  open  to  her,  and  she  is  beginning  to  be 
admitted  to  their  privileges  on  equal  terms  with 
her  brothers.  If  this  change  has  not  been 
wrought  directly  by  the  writings  of  Swedenborg 
or  their  students,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is 
directly  in  the  line  of  their  teachings,  and  may  be 
fairly  claimed,  therefore,  as  one  of  the  normal  re- 
sults of  the  last  Judgment  and  new  Dispensation. 

According  to  the  teaching  of  the  Xew  Church, 
sex  belongs  to  the  soul  not  less  than  to  the  body ; 
and  it  is  therefore  eternal  in  its  duration  as  the 
soul  itself.  And  since  the  death  of  the  body  works 
no  change  in  the  soul,  it  leaves  the  sexes,  with  all 
their  essential  longings  and  characteristics,  the 
same  in  the  spiritual  as  they  are  in  the  natural 
world.  And  as  it  is  the  Lord's  will  that  all 
orderly  and  innocent  loves  should  be  gratified, 
therefore  there  are  marriages  in  heaven. 

Marriage  is  regarded  by  the  New  Church  as  a 
most  sacred  institution,  having  its  origin  in  the 
divine  and  eternal  union  of  Love  and  Wisdom  in 
the  Lord,  and  being  itself  a  faint  image  of  that 
union.  The  spiritual  or  heavenly  marriage  is  the 
conjunction  of  good  and  truth,  or  of  love  and 
wisdom,  in  the  individual  soul ;  and  this  takes 
place  in  the  degree  that  a  man,  through  religioua 
obedience  to  the  truth  received  into  his  under- 
standing, unites  or  marries  that  truth  to  love  in 
the  will ;  and  in  so  far  as  this  takes  place,  he  is 
17  N 


194     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

internally  conjoined  to  the  Lord,  being  created 
anew  in  the  Divine  image  and  likeness.  Hence 
the  Lord  becomes  (and  is  so  represented  in  Scrip- 
ture) the  Husband  of  all  regenerate  souls;  and 
such  s(^ls  form,  in  the  aggregate,  "  the  bride,  the 
Lamb's  wife."  In  the  degree  that  man  receives 
into  his  soul  truth  and  love  in  marriage  union,  he 
receives  the  Lord,  and  experiences  within  himself 
the  life  and  delights  of  heaven.  Hence  it  is  that 
heaven  in  the  Word  is  compared  to  a  marriage. 
(See  Matt.  xxii.  2,  4;  xxv.  1,  10.) 

Js^ow  as  truth  and  love  from  their  very  nature, 
or  because  of  their  divine  union  in  Him  from 
whom  they  flow,  have  a  perpetual  longing  or 
affinity  for  each  other,  therefore  man  and  woman 
are  from  their  creation  gifted  with  a  similar  desire 
for  union ;  and  their  marriage  (provided  it  be  a 
true  one — a  union  of  souls  as  well  as  of  bodies) 
symbolizes  or  images  the  divine  and  heavenly 
marriage.  The  two  sexes  are  the  complements 
of  each  other,  standing  related  like  truth  and 
good,  understanding  and  will,  lungs  and  heart; 
and  each,  therefore,  being  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  completeness  of  the  other.  Although  each  sex 
is  actually  in  both  man  and  woman  (for  each  is 
gifted  with  understanding  and  will,  and  is  capable, 
therefore,  of  receiving  both  truth  and  love),  yet 
man  is  relatively  a  form  of  the  intellect  or  truth, 
and  woman  a  form  of  the  will  or  love ;  for  with 


Marriage  and  the  Sexes.  195 


the  former,  truth  or  the  masculine  element  is  ex- 
terior and  predominant,  and  with  the  latter,  love 
or  the  feminine  element.  And  when  a  married 
couple  on  earth  are  fully  regenerated— if  they 
are  from  creation  the  complements  of,  and  thus 
perfectly  adapted  to,  each  other — they  are  no 
longer  two  but  one  ;  each  living  in  and  for  the 
other,  thinking,  perceiving,  feeling  and  enjoying 
as  one  mind.  They  are  then  "  one  flesh,"  in- 
separably joined  by  God  in  their  very  constitu- 
tion and  mutual  adaptation  to  each  other,  "like 
the  angels  in  heaven  ;  "  and  their  delights  in  the 
hereafter  are  ineffable  and  inconceivable. 

But  the  natural  love  of  the  sex  as  felt  by  the 
merely  natural  man,  is  a  low  animal  passion, 
more  or  less  defiled  with  impurity  like  all  his 
other  loves.  But  it  is  the  germ  or  early  blossom 
of  something  tran^cendently  more  beautiful  and 
precious.  The  natural  love  of  the  sex  is,  by  re- 
generation, purified,  exalted,  ennobled,  and  so 
changed  into  what  Swedenborg  calls  "love 
truly  conjugial,"  which  is  a  spiritual  and  heav- 
enly love,  the  sweetness  and  felicities  of  which 
transcend  immeasurably  the  delights  of  the  love 
immediately  succeeding  the  earthly  nuptials. 

Owing  to  the  present  disorderly  and  unspiritual 
state  even  of  the  Christian  world,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  there  are  at  this  time  many  true 
marriages,  or  unions  that  are  "  truly  conjugial." 


196    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


Nor  will  there  be,  until  marriage  is  looked  upon 
as  the  most  solemn  and  momentous  event  of  one's 
earthly  life,  and  sincere,  devout  and  earnest  prayer 
goes  up  from  the  hearts  of  young  men  and  maidens, 
that  in  this  most  important  step,  involving  per- 
chance the  peace  and  prosperity  of  multitudes  yet 
unborn,  they  may  be  led  and  governed  wholly  by 
the  Lord. 

"Offspring  born  of  those  who  are  in  love  truly 
conjugial,"  says  Swedenborg,  derive  inclinations 
and  faculties  (if  a  son),  for  perceiving  the  things 
of  wisdom,  and  (if  a  daughter),  for  loving  the 
things  which  wisdom  teaches ;  because  the  con- 
jugial of  good  and  truth  is  implanted  by  creation 
in  the  soul  of  every  one,  and  also  in  the  things 
derived  from  the  soul.  .  .  .  Hence  an  aptness  and 
facility  for  conjoining  good  to  truth  and  truth  to 
good,  that  is,  for  becoming  wise,  is  inherited  by 
those  who  are  born  from  such  a  marriage ;  con- 
sequently an  aptness  also  for  imbibing  the  things 
that  are  of  the  church  and  heaven,  with  which 
things  conjugial  love  is  conjoined.  From  which 
considerations  reason  may  clearly  see  the  end  for 
which  marriages  of  love  truly  conjugial  have  been 
provided,  and  are  still  provided,  by  the  Lord  the 
Creator  [for  all,  that  is,  who  trulv  seek  and  de- 
voutly pray  for  them]."    (C.  L.  204.) 

We  add  a  few  brief  extracts  from  Swedenborg 
in  further  elucidation  of  the  subject.* 

*  For  a  full  and  exhaustive  treatment  of  this  subject,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  Vol.  IX.,  Swedenborg  Library,  which  treats  of 
"  Marriage  and  the  Sexes  in  both  Worlds." 


Mannage  and  the  Sexes. 


197 


"  The  angels  regard  marriages  on  earth  as  most 
holy,  because  they  are  the  seminaries  of  the 
human  race  and  also  of  the  angels  of  heaven, 
for  heaven  is  from  the  human  race  ;  also  because 
they  are  from  a  spiritual  origin,  namely,  from  the 
marriage  of  good  and  truth ;  and  because  the 
Divine  of  the  Lord  flows  primarily  into  conjugial 
love."    (H.  H.  384.) 

"  I  once  heard  an  angel  describing  love  truly 
conjugial  and  its  heavenly  delights,  in  this  man- 
ner: That  it  is  the  Divine  of  the  Lord  in  the 
heavens, — which  is  the  divine  good  and  divine 
truth, — united  in  two  beings,  yet  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  they  are  not  two,  but  as  one.  He  said 
that  two  conjugial  partners  in  heaven  are  that 
love, — because  every  one  is  his  own  good  and  his 
own  truth,  as  to  mind  as  well  as  to  body ;  for  the 
body  is  the  effigy  of  the  mind,  because  formed  in 
its  likeness.  Hence  he  concluded  that  the  Divine 
is  effigied  in  two,  who  are  in  love  truly  conjugial ; 
and  because  the  Divine  is  effigied  in  them,  so  also 
is  heaven."    (H.  H,  374.) 

"  The  essential  of  marriage  is  the  union  of 
minds.  .  .  .  And  the  union  of  minds  is  altogether 
such  as  are  the  truths  and  goods  from  which  the 
minds  are  formed.  Consequently  the  union  is 
most  perfect  between  minds  that  are  formed  of 
genuine  truths  and  goods.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  no  two  things  mutually  love  each  other  more 
than  truth  and  good.  Therefore  love  truly  con- 
jugial descends  from  that  love."    (Ibid.  375.) 

"  Love  truly  conjugial  cannot  exist  between  one 
husband  and  more  wives  than  one ;   for  this 
destroys  its  spiritual  origin,  which  is  the  forma- 
17* 


198    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

tion  of  one  mind  out  of  two.  Consequently  it 
destroys  interior  conjunction,  which  is  that  of 
good  and  truth,  from  which  is  the  very  essence 
of  conjugial  love."    (Ibid.  379.) 

"  It  has  been  shown  me  how  the  delights  of 
conjugial  love  progress  toward  heaven,  and  the 
delights  of  adultery  toward  hell.  The  progres- 
sion of  the  delights  of  conjugial  love  toward 
heaven,  was  into  blessednesses  and  felicities  con- 
tinually increasing  in  number,  until  they  became 
innumerable  and  ineffable ;  and  the  more  interi- 
orly they  progressed,  the  more  innumerable  and 
ineffable  they  became,  until  they  reached  the 
ver}^  blessedness  and  happiness  of  the  inmost 
heaven  which  is  the  heaven  of  innocence,  and  this 
with  the  most  perfect  freedom.  For  all  freedom 
is  from  love ;  and  therefore  the  most  perfect  free- 
dom is  from  conjugial  love  which  is  heavenly  love 
itself.  But  the  progression  of  adultery  was  toward 
hell,  and  by  degrees  to  the  lowest  where  there  is 
nothing  but  what  is  direful  and  horrible.  Such 
is  the  lot  which  awaits  adulterers  after  their  life 
in  the  world."    (Ibid.  386.) 


XXVIII. — The  Resurrection'. 

The  church  in  Swedenborg's  day  believed  in 
the  soul's  immortality,  yet  had  no  clear  conception 
of  the  soul  as  a  substantial  entity,  or  as  existing 
in  any  definite  form.  The  prevailing  belief  was, 
that  it  is  something  ethereal,  subtle,  shadowy, — a 
kind  of  breath  or  vapor  which  would,  at  some 


The  Resurrection, 


199 


distant  day,  be  re-united  with  its  cast-ofiF  material 
body,  and  thereby  reach  its  perfected  state,  regain 
its  human  form  and  attain  a  substantial  existence. 

And  this  resuscitation  of  the  material  body,  or 
its  re-union  with  the  soul,  is  what  Christians  of 
that  day  understood  by  the  Resurrection  which 
the  Bible  speaks  of.  It  was  a  purely  materialistic 
doctrine,  but  in  complete  harmony  with  the  sen- 
suous philosophy  and  carnal  conceptions  preva- 
lent at  that  period.  And  although  this  doctrine 
is  still  to  be  found  in  the  creeds,  and  is  often 
taught  from  the  pulpit  and  in  religious  books,  it 
is  beginning  to  be  rejected  by  the  more  thoughtful 
and  intelligent  classes  in  nearly  all  the  denomina- 
tions. It  is  openly  denied  by  not  a  few  religious 
journals  and  teaching  ministers  of  the  ''evangeli- 
cal" school. 

To  one  who  allows  himself  to  think  or  reason 
at  all  on  the  subject,  this  old  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection cannot  but  seem  most  unreasonable,  and 
wholly  inconsistent  with  all  that  is  known  of  the 
laws  of  divine  order,  as  well  as  with  all  that  is 
suggested  by  the  analogies  of  the  material  uni- 
verse. There  is  nothing  throughout  the  domains 
of  nature,  that  bears  the  slightest  resemblance  to 
it.  The  crawling  worm  passes  through  successive 
'  states  in  the  progress  of  its  development,  and 
finally  emerges  from  its  chrysalis,  a  beautiful 
butterfly,  sporting  among  flowers  and  buoyant  as 


200    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

the  breeze  it  sails  upon  ;  but  it  never  resumes  the 
exuviae  that  clothed  it  while  a  worm  ;  for,  useful 
as  that  covering  was  while  it  crawled  upon  the 
earth,  it  needs  it  no  longer  now  that  it  is  able  to 
flv  in  the  air. 

And  the  doctrine  is  fully  as  unscriptural  as  it 
is  unreasonable.  I^ot  one  of  the  texts  cited  in 
proof  of  it,  when  carefully  examined  and  rightly 
understood,  lends  this  doctrine  the  least  shadow 
of  support.  This  has  been  repeatedly  and  con- 
clusively shown  in  works  where  this  subject  has 
been  treated  at  greater  length  than  it  accords 
with  the  design  of  the  present  work  to  treat  it.* 

The  New  Doctnne. 

We  turn  now  to  the  new  doctrine  of  the  resur- 
rection.— According  to  the  teachings  of  the  New 
Church,  man  never  dies.  The  material  body  dies, 
but  this  is  not  the  man  ;  this  does  not  think,  will, 
reason,  or  love.  These  and  other  human  capabil- 
ities belong  to  the  soul  or  spirit.  And  when  the 
spirit  is  withdrawn  from  the  body,  all  the  bodily 
functions  cease,  and  there  supervenes  what  we 
call  death.  But  the  spirit  which  is  the  real  man, 
still  continues  to  live,  but  in  the  spiritual  world 

*  The  reader  is  referred  to  "  The  World  Beyond,"  by  John  ^ 
Doughty  (No.  1,  of  this  series),  pp.  24  to  40:  "Noble's  Appeal" 
pp.  43  to  100  :  Barrett's  "  Lectures  on  the  New  Dispensation,"  pp. 
246  to  272:— for  a  critical  examination  of  the  texts  of  Scripture 
conimonly  cited  or  referred  to  in  support  of  the  old  doctrine. 


The  Resurrection. 


201 


where  all  things  are  homogeneous  with  itself — 
that  is,  are  spiritual.  The  spirit  is  in  the  human 
form  and  is  a  spiritual  and  substantial  organism. 
It  has  feet,  hands  and  other  bodily  organs,  and 
senses  far  more  acute  than  those  of  the  body ; 
and  these  senses  are  opened  as  soon  as  the  body 
dies,  so  that  the  spirit  sees  and  hears  other  spirits 
as  men  see  and  hear  one  another, — and  has  sensi- 
ble perception  of  the  things  in  the  spiritual  world 
as  men  have  sensible  perception  of  the  things  in 
this  world.  This  agrees  with  Paul's  teaching ; 
for  he  says :  "  There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there 
is  a  spiritual  body  and  in  the  same  verse  he  de- 
clares that  it  is  the  spiritual  body  which  experi- 
ences the  resurrection.  "  A  natural  body  is  sown, 
a  spiritual  body  is  raised  " — according  to  the  cor- 
rect translation  of  the  original  Greek ;  and  he 
calls  the  man  a  "fool"  who  imagines  that  it  is 
the  material  body — this  outer  garment  of  flesh 
which  envelops  us  in  this  our  earth-life — that  is 
to  attain  unto  the  resurrection  (1  Cor.  xv.  36,  44). 

The  material  body  has  no  life  of  its  own.  It 
lives  by  virtue  of  the  indwelling  spirit.  The 
spiritual  body  is  within  the  natural  during  our 
life  on  earth,  filling  and  animating  every  minutest 
part  of  it.  But  when  the  latter  dies,  the  spiritual 
body,  released  from  its  clay  tenement,  enters  upon 
a  conscious  state  of  existence  in  its  own  congenial 
realm ; — still  lives,  with  its  senses  all  awake  or 


202     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


opened,  in  its  own  world,  and  never  resumes  its 
material  vestment.  And  the  separation  of  the 
spirit  from  the  incumbrance  of  gross  matter, 
which  takes  place  immediately  after  the  death  of 
the  body,  is  what  is  meant,  according  to  the  be- 
lief and  teaching  of  the  New  Church,  by  the  res- 
urrection. It  is  the  anastasis  or  resuscitation  of 
the  real  person,  not  the  reconstructing  and  reani- 
mation  of  the  outer  garment  of  flesh  which  had 
served  him  in  this  rudimental  sphere. 

That  this  is  the  true  Scripture  doctrine,  appears 
plain  from  our  Lord's  own  argument  when  proving 
to  the  unbelieving  Sadducees  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.  For  He  declares  to  them  that  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  were  still  living — and  had,  con- 
sequently, attained  unto  the  resurrection — since 
their  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living "  (Matt.  xxii.  32).  Also  from  his  words 
to  the  penitent  thief:  "To-day  thou  shalt  be  with 
me  in  Paradise;"  and  from  the  parable  of  the  rich 
man  and  Lazarus,  the  former  of  whom  is  repre- 
sented as  being  in  hell  shortly  after  his  decease, 
for  he  speaks  of  having  five  brethren  still  living 
in  the  natural  world  (Luke  xvi.  28).  And  that 
we  shall  continue  in  the  human  form  after  the 
body  dies,  is  proved  by  the  appearance  of  Moses 
and  Elias  in  that  form  on  the  mount  of  Transfig- 
uration, long  after  they  had  left  the  natural  world, 
but  long  before  the  general  resurrection  day  ac- 


The  Resurrection, 


203 


cording  to  the  old  theory.  For  they  were  seen 
by  the  apostles  when  they  were  in  vision  (Matt, 
xvii.  9),  that  is,  when  their  spiritual  eyes  were 
opened,  and  of  course  were  seen  in  the  spiritual 
world.  Furthermore,  whenever  angels  have  been 
seen  by  men  (as  in  the  case  of  those  seen  by  Abra- 
ham, Gideon,  Manoah  and  John),  they  have  always 
appeared  in  the  human  form ;  and  sometimes  they 
are  called  "  men  "  (Luke  xxiv.  4). 

And  it  accords  with  the  dictate  of  reason  as 
well  as  with  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  that  the 
human  spirit,  after  its  separation  from  the  mate- 
rial body,  should  retain  its  human  form.  For  we 
know  that  the  form  of  every  living  creature  is  and 
must  be  in  exact  correspondence  with  that  crea- 
ture's essential  nature  or  peculiar  characteristics. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  the  peculiar  and  distin- 
guishing qualities  of  the  fox,  lion,  horse  or  sheep, 
existing  in  any  other  forms  than  these  animals 
have.  And  it  is  equally  impossible  to  conceive 
of  a  being  endowed  with  the  human  characteris- 
tics and  capabilities,  existing  in  any  other  than 
the  human  form.  If  the  human  faculties,  there- 
fore, which  constitute  the  essential  man  or  woman, 
continue  to  exist  after  the  body  dies  (and  if  these 
do  not  exist,  the  individual  does  not),  then  people 
must  be  in  the  human  form  after  death.  And  their 
bodies  must  be  spiritual  (as  Paul  plainly  teaches), 
else  they  would  not  be  adapted  to  a  realm  where 


204     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

all  things  else  are  spiritual;  just  as  our  present 
bodies  must  be  material,  to  be  fitted  for  service  in 
a  world  of  matter. 

There  is  another  kind  of  resurrection  of  which 
the  Scriptures  speak,  that  must  not  be  (though  it 
sometimes  is)  confounded  with  that  which  we  are 
here  considering.  It  is  a  spiritual  resurrection 
which  takes  place  with  all  the  humble  followers 
of  the  Lord,  on  this  side  of  the  grave.  It  is  the 
resurrection  from  a  natural  to  a  spiritual  state  of 
life; — from  a  state  of  sin  or  moral  death,  to  a  state 
of  holiness;  from  the  old,  carnal,  selfish  life,  to  the 
new  life  of  disinterested  neighborly  love  which  is 
the  Lord's  own  life  and  the  very  essence  of  heaven. 
As  the  old  man  with  his  affections  and  lusts  dies 
or  is  put  off,  and  our  inner  man  is  renewed  after 
the  image  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  rise  to  a  new  and 
higher  life — to  that  which  is  meant  by  "the  life 
eternal."  This  is  the  kind  of  resurrection  to  which 
the  Lord  referred  when  He  said  :  "  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life;"  and  again:  "The  hour  com- 
eth  and  noic  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice 
of  the  Son  of  God;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live." 
When  those  who  are  entombed  in  selfishness  and 
sin,  hear  (that  is,  obey  )  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  they 
rise  from  their  tombs  to  newness  of  life.  This  is 
salvation — "the  first"  or  primary  resurrection. 
Hence  we  read:  " Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath 
part  in  the  first  resurrection"  (Rev.  xx.  6). 


The  First  State  after  Death, 


205 


XXIX. — The  First  State  after  Death. 

The  New  Church  believes  and  teaches  that 
every  individual  enters  the  spiritual  world  pre- 
cisely the  same,  in  disposition  and  character,  as 
he  was  when  in  this  world.  Physical  death  works 
no  change  of  character.  And  as  men  in  the  flesh 
are  not  altogether  in  heaven  nor  altogether  in  hell, 
but  in  a  state  intermediate  between  the  two,  so 
immediately  after  death  they  are  in  a  similar  in- 
termediate state,  called  "the  world  of  spirits." 
And  as  society  on  earth  is  of  a  mixed  character 
— the  good  and  bad  mingling  together,  because 
the  internals  of  each  one  are  covered  over  and 
hidden  from  the  view  of  others — so  is  it  also  in 
"the  world  of  spirits."  So  must  it  be,  unless 
physical  death  works  some  change  of  character, 
which  is  alike  unreasonable  and  unscriptural. 

Some  persons  are  so  fully  regenerated,  or  rise 
so  completely  out  of  the  old  into  the  new  life, 
that  they  become  fitted  while  on  earth  for  the 
companionship  of  angels.  They  have  thoroughly 
vanquished  the  life  of  self,  and  come  into  such 
close  and  blissful  conjunction  with  the  Lord,  that 
they  do  not  remain  long  in  the  intermediate  state 
after  death,  but  pass  immediately  into  some  kin- 
dred society  in  heaven.  But  there  are  very  few 
of  this  class  Most  people — even  good  people — 
18 


206    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

do  not  become  altogether  fitted  in  this  world  for 
the  society  of  angels.  The  ruling  love  may  be 
right,  yet  the  habits  of  thought,  feeling  and  action 
— all  the  things  of  the  outward  life — have  not 
yet  been  brought  into  perfect  agreement  with  the 
spirit  of  heaven.  Something  of  the  old  man  still 
remains  to  be  put  off,  before  the  life  is  altogether 
angelic.  And  among  the  unregenerate,  few  be- 
come so  entirely  depraved  in  this  world  as  to  be 
altogether  dfevilish.  Nearly  all  the  wicked  retain, 
while  on  earth,  some  good  qualities — externally 
if  not  internally.  Few  are  so  thoroughly  false 
and  evil  from  centre  to  circumference,  that  they 
are  fitted  for  the  society  of  devils  as  soon  as  they 
enter  the  other  world.  So  that  the  wicked — those 
who  are  internally  such,  yet  have  some  external 
goodness  appertaining  to  them — remain,  for  a 
greater  or  less  time  after  death,  in  the  intermedi- 
ate state  or  world  of  spirits. 

But  the  process  by  which  the  interiors  are  devel- 
oped or  uncovered,  and  the  hidden  things  of  one's 
life  are  made  known,  commences  immediately  after 
death,  and  proceeds  with  greater  rapidity  in  the 
world  of  spirits  than  it  does  in  this  world.  The 
change  is  comparatively  like  that  which  takes 
place  with  plants  when  removed  from  a  cold  to  a 
tropical  region,  where  they  are  brought  under  the 
more  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  And  as  the  process 
goes  on,  whereby  the  interiors  are  laid  open  and 


The  First  State  after  Death,  207 


the  quality  of  each  one's  ruling  love  which  is  his 
life,  is  revealed,  his  real  character — that  which  he 
was  interiorly  while  he  lived  on  earth — becomes 
more  and  more  manifest.  Until  finally  the  exter- 
nals of  every  one  are  put  off,  or  brought  into  per- 
fect agreement  with  his  internals,  and  he  appears 
and  is  outwardly  just  what  he  is  inwardly. 

This  process,  whereby  each  one's  character  or 
ruling  love  becomes  fully  df^losed,  takes  place 
in  "the  world  of  spirits,"  and  is  what  is  meant 
by  "the  judgment "  that  every  one  must  undergo 
after  death.  When  this  is  accomplished,  the  indi- 
vidual is  prepared  for  his  final  abode — among  the 
angels  in  heaven  or  the  devils  in  hell,  according  as 
his  real  character  is  angelic  or  infernal.  He  then 
goes  freely  and  willingly  to  the  society  of  those 
whose  ruling  love  is  most  akin  to  his  own.  For 
there,  and  only  there,  he  finds  a  congenial  home. 
His  inner  man  (or  "  book  of  life  ")  is  opened,  and 
out  of,  or  according  to,  it  he  is  judged. 

And  here,  in  this  intermediate  state  or  world 
of  spirits,  is  where  those  who  had  been  friends 
and  acquaintances  on  earth,  meet  and  recognize 
each  other,  and  remain  together  as  long  as  their 
society  is  mutually  agreeable.  As  the  character 
of  every  one  is  the  same  on  his  first  entrance  into 
the  other  world  as  it  was  before  his  decease,  so 
his  voice,  manners  and  looks  are  the  same  as  be- 
fore ;  therefore  he  is  readily  recognized  by  those 


208    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


who  had  known  him  on  earth.  And  if  he  desires 
to  see  any  friend  or  relative  who  had  died  many 
years  before,  and  who  may  have  passed  through 
the  intermediate  state  to  his  final  abode,  his  desire 
is  gratified ;  his  friend  is  remitted  into  the  world 
of  spirits,  which  means  that  he  is  let  into  a  state 
similar  to  what  he  was  in  when  on  earth,  and  in 
that  state  he  looks,  speaks  and  acts  precisely  as  he 
did  before  he  died  ^nd  they  are  permitted  to  re- 
main together  as  long  as  they  desire.  But  if  they 
are  very  difi"erent  internally  and  spiritually,  they 
will  in  a  short  time  prefer  to  separate — each  one 
going  in  freedom  to  the  society  of  spirits  most 
akin,  and  therefore  most  agreeable,  to  himself. 


XXX. — Spirit-Seeing-Its  Philosophy  or 
Rationale  briefly  Explained. 

In  all  ages  and  among  all  nations  the  belief  has 
prevailed,  not  only  in  the  existence  of  spirits,  but 
in  the  possibility  of  their  being  seen  of  men  in 
the  flesh.  And  hundreds  of  well-authenticated 
cases  of  the  appearance  of  spirits  to  men,  have 
been  placed  on  record.  The  Bible,  also,  makes  fre- 
quent mention  of  angels,  and  sometimes  of  the 
spirits  of  deceased  men,  rendering  themselves  visi- 
ble to  persons  yet  in  the  earth-life. 

Admitting,  then,  the  well-established  fact,  that 


The  Rationale  of  Spirit-Seeing.  209 

spirits  and  angels  have  often  appeared  to  men  on 
earth,  how  are  such  appearances  to  be  accounted 
for  ?  The  only  rational  and  philosophical  expla- 
nation of  the  fact,  that  we  have  ever  met  with, 
or  indeed  are  able  to  conceive  of,  is  that  given  by 
Swedenborg.  It  is  obvious  that  spirits  and  angels, 
since  they  are  spiritual  beings  and  inhabitants  of 
a  spiritual  realm,  cannot  be  seen  with  the  natural 
eyes  nor  heard  with  the  natural  ears ;  for  these 
senses  are  adapted  to  the  natural  world  in  which 
we  are  now  living,  and  are  not  at  all  suited  to  the 
spiritual  world  which  is  a  discrete  degree  above 
the  natural. 

Accordingly,  Swedenborg  says  that  every  man 
has  a  spiritual  body  within  his  natural  or  material 
body.  That  this  spiritual  body  which  is  the  real 
man  that  continues  to  live  after  death,  is  endowed 
with  senses  suited  to  the  spiritual  world  as  the 
natural  senses  are  to  the  natural  world.  That 
these  senses,  ordinarily  closed  during  our  earth- 
life,  are  nevertheless  capable  of  being  opened  while 
we  live  in  the  flesh ;  and  when  opened,  the  indi- 
vidual is  able  to  see  and  hear  spirits  as  plainly  as 
men  see  and  hear  one  another,  and  to  have  sensible 
perception  also  of  the  light,  objects  and  phenomena 
of  the  spiritual  world.  This  is  the  way,  he  says, 
in  which  he  was  himself  intromitted  into  the 
spiritual  world — by  the  opening  of  his  spiritual 
senses — and  was  permitted  for  so  long  a  time  to 
18*  ^.  O 


210    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

hold  open  intercourse  with  spirits  of  every  class, 
and  to  become  familiar  with  their  character  and 
surroundings,  and  with  all  the  important  facts, 
phenomena  and  laws  of  the  spirit  world.  It  was 
in  a  similar  way  that  Paul  was  ''caught  up  to  the 
third  heaven,"  and  heard  there  words  "which  it 
is  not  possible  for  a  man  to  utter."  In  a  sirhilar 
way,  too,  that  he  beheld  at  midday,  when  on  his 
way  to  Damascus,  "a  light  from  heaven  above  the 
brightness  of  the 'sun ; "  for  that  dazzling  light  was 
the  light  of  the  spiritual  world  beaming  from  the 
face  of  the  Lord  as  a  sun,  which  Swedenborg  so 
often  tells  us  is  immensely  brighter  than  the  sun  of 
this  world.  It  was  in  a  similar  way,  also,  that  the 
seer  of  Patmos  saw  myriads  of  angels,  and  heard 
their  voices,  when  he  "was  in  the  spirit;"  and  in 
a  similar  way  that  the  disciples  repeatedly  saw 
the  Lord  after  his  resurrection — that  is,  by  the 
opening  of  their  spiritual  eyes.  This  accounts  for 
his  appearing  suddenly  in  their  midst — "the  doors 
being  shut" — and  as  suddenly  "vanishing  out  of 
their  sight."    (Luke  xxiv.  31 ;  John  xx.  26.) 

The  Bible  also  testifies  to  the  existence  and  the 
occasional  opening  of  the  spiritual  senses  in  man. 
To  refer  here  to  a  single  instance — that  of  Elisha's 
servant,  who,  rising  early  in  the  morning,  beheld 
the  residence  of  his  master  in  the  little  town  of 
Dothan,  surrounded  by  the  horses  and  chariots  of 
the  Syrian  king,  who  had  sent  thither  "  a  great 


The  Rationale  of  Spirit-Seeing.  211 

host"  to  capture  the  man  of  God;  and  in  alarm 
he  cried  out:  *'Alas,  my  master  I  how  shall  we 
do?"  And  the  prophet  answered:  "Fear  not; 
for  they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than  they  that 
be  with  them.  And  Elisha  prayed  and  said: 
Lord,  I  pray  thee,  open  his  eyes  that  he  may  see. 
And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man, 
and  he  saw :  and,  behold,  the  mountain  was  full 
of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha" 
(2  Kings  vi.  15-18).  It  is  plain  that  the  "eyes" 
here  spoken  of,  which  the  Lord  opened  in  answer 
to  Elisha's  prayer,  were  not  the  eyes  of  that  young 
man's  body,  but  the  eyes  of  his  spirit ;  and  that 
the  horses  and  chariots  which  he  then  beheld 
round  about  his  master,  were  seen  in  the  spiritual 
world,  and  represented,  under  the  great  law  of 
correspondence,  the  strong  and  sure  defence  not 
only  of  Elisha  but  of  all  who  put  their  trust  in 
the  Lord,  and  seek  only  to  do  his  will. 

Every  one,  therefore,  who  reads  his  Bible,  and 
will  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  pneuma- 
tology  and  psychology  of  the  New  Church,  will 
find  it  easy  to  accept  declarations  like  the  fol- 
lowing, which  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
writings  of  Swedenborg : 

"  That  there  is  a  spiritual  world  inhabited  by 
spirits  and  angels,  distinct  from  the  natural  world 
inhabited  by  men,  is  a  fact  which,  because  no  an- 
gel has  descended  and  declared  it,  and  no  man  has 


212    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


ascended  and  seen  it,  has  been  hitherto  unknown 
even  in  the  Christian  world.  Lest,  therefore,  from 
ignorance  of  the  existence  of  such  a  world,  and  the 
doubts  about  the  reality  of  heaven  and  hell  which 
result  from  such  ignorance,  men  should  be  so  in- 
fatuated as  to  become  materialists  and  atheists,  it 
has  pleased  the  Lord  to  open  my  spiritual  sight, 
and,  as  to  my  spirit,  to  elevate  me  into  heaven  and 
let  me  down  into  hell,  and  to  exhibit  to  my  view 
the  nature  of  both."    (Influx  3.) 

But  Swedenborg's  intromission  into  the  spirit- 
ual world  in  the  manner  alleged,  was  not  a  thing 
of  his  own  seeking.  It  was  of  the  Divine  Prov- 
idence, and  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  sublime 
and  beneficent  purpose.  Otherwise  such  intro- 
mission would  have  been  most  perilous.  Accord- 
ingly he  teaches,  and  the  New  Church  believes, 
that  to  seek  open  intercourse  with  spirits  by  break- 
ing down  the  existing  barriers  between  the  two 
worlds,  as  not  a  few  in  our  day  are  doing,  is  un- 
scriptural,  disorderly  and  dangerous. 

"It  is  believed,"  says  Swedenborg,  "that  man 
may  be  taught  of  the  Lord  by  spirits  speaking 
with  him.  But  they  who  believe  and  desire  this, 
do  not  know  that  it  is  connected  with  danger  to 
their  souls.  Man,  so  long  as  he  lives  in  the  world, 
is  as  to  his  spirit  in  the  midst  of  spirits ;  yet  the 
spirits  do  not  know  that  they  are  with  him,  nor 
does  the  man  know  that  he  is  with  spirits.  .  .  . 
But  as  soon  as  spirits  begin  to  speak  with  him, 
they  come  out  of  their  spiritual  state  into  the 
man's  natural  state ;  and  then  they  know  that 


Concerning  Heaven^  213 


they  are  with  him,  and  conjoin  themselves  with 
the  thoughts  of  his  affection.  .  .  Hence  the  speak- 
ing spirit  is  in  the  same  principles  as  the  man  to 
whom  he  speaks,  be  they  true  or  false ;  and  like- 
wise excites  them,  and  by  his  affection  conjoined 
to  the  man's,  strongly  confirms  them.  .  .  . 

''From  this  it  is  evident  to  what  danger  a  man 
is  exposed,  who  speaks  with  spirits,  or  manifestly 
feels  their  operation.  Man  is  ignorant  of  the 
quality  of  his  affection,  whether  it  be  good  or 
evil,  and  with  what  other  beings  it  is  conjoined ; 
and  if  he  is  in  the  conceit  of  his  own  intelligence, 
his  attendant  spirits  favor  every  thought  thence 
derived.  So  it  is,  if  any  one  is  disposed  to  favor 
particular  principles  enkindled  by  a  certain  fire 
which  belongs  to  those  who  are  not  in  truths  from 
genuine  affection.  When  a  spirit  from  similar  af- 
fection favors  a  man's  thoughts  or  principles,  then 
one  leads  the  other  as  the  blind  lead  the  blind, 
-until  both  fall  into  the  pit.  The  Pythonists  of  old 
were  of  this  description ;  likewise  the  magicians 
in  Egypt  and  Babylon."   (Ap.  Ex.  1182.) 


XXXI. — Concerning  Heaven. 

The  idea  which  the  Christian  church  in  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  entertained  concerning 
the  spiritual  world,  was  extremely  vague  and  in- 
definite— so  much  so,  indeed,  that  it  could  hardly 
be  called  an  idea.  Multitudes  were  beginning  to 
doubt,  and  not  a  few  to  deny,  the  immortality  of 
the  soul;  and  those  who  believed  in  it  had  no 


214    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

clearly  defined  idea  of  what  the  soul  is  or  of  its 
mode  of  existence  after  the  death  of  the  body. 
It  was  thought  of  as  something  ethereal,  a  kind 
of  vapor  or  shadow,  not  as  a  substantial  entity 
existing  in  any  definite  form.  How,  then,  could 
there  have  been  any  other  than  the  most  vague 
idea  concerning  the  realm  which  the  soul  enters 
when  it  leaves  the  body?  And  what  could  resist 
and  drive  back  the  in-coming  tide  of  skepticism 
in  regard  to  a  life  beyond  the  grave,  but  some 
further  and  trustworthy  revelation  of  the  sub- 
lime fact,  accompanied  with  adequate  rational  evi- 
dence ? 

TJie  Need  of  Swedenhorg^s  Disclosures, 

It  is  thought  by  some  that  any  disclosures  con- 
cerning the  world  beyond  the  grave,  would  be  of 
no  practical  value  even  if  true.  Others  think  thrat 
heaven  is  above  our  human  thought;  and  that 
therefore  any  revelation  of  its  grand  realities 
would  be  useless,  because  unintelligible  to  dwell- 
ers here  on  earth.  But  others,  of  profound  thought 
and  deep  religious  experience,  have  thought  dif- 
ferently. Dr.  William  Ellery  Channing,  mourn- 
ing over  the  feebleness  and  increasing  lack  of 
faith  even  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  among 
Christians  of  his  day,  says; 

"  This  faith  is  lamentably  weak  in  the  multi- 
tude of  men.   To  multitudes,  Heaven  is  almost  a 


Concerning  Heaven, 


215 


world  of  fancy.  It  wants  substance.  The  idea 
of  a  world  in  wbich  beings  exist  without  these 
gross  bodies,  .  .  strikes  them  as  a  fiction.  What 
cannot  be  seen  or  touched,  appears  unreal.  This 
is  mournful,  but  not  wonderful ;  for  how  can  men 
who  immerse  themselves  in  the  body  and  its  in- 
terests, and  cultivate  no  acquaintance  with  their 
own  souls  and  spiritual  powers,  comprehend  a 
higher,  spiritual  life  ?  .  .  This  skepticism  as  to 
things  spiritual  and  celestial,  is  as  irrational  and 
unphilosophical  as  it  is  degrading."  (  Works.  Yol. 
lY.,  p.  219.) 

And  how,  or  by  what  method,  would  this  great 
thinker  and  writer  strengthen  the  feeble  and  wan- 
ing faith  of  Christians  in  the  Hereafter,  and  bring 
the  sublime  doctrine  of  a  future  life  home  to  men's 
minds  as  a  grand  and  inspiring  reality  ? 

''This  method,"  he  says,  "is  to  seek  some 
clearer,  more  definite  conception  of  the  future 
state.  That  world  seems  less  real,  for  want  of 
some  distinctness  in  its  features.  We  should  all 
believe  it  more  firmly  if  we  conceived  of  it  more 
vividly.  It  seems  unsubstantial  from  its  vague- 
ness and  dimness."    (Ibid.,  p.  220.) 

And  the. lack  of  distinctness  in  the  features 
of  the  other  world  which  the  soul  of  Channing. 
longed  for,  or  thought  so  desirable,  is  beautifully 
and  amply  supplied  by  the  disclosures  made 
through  Swedenborg.  And  we  have  only  to  sub- 
ject these  disclosures  to  a  careful  examination — . 
to  survey  them,  calmly  and  without  prejudice,  in 


216    The  Dodnnes  of  the  New  Church, 

the  light  of  Scripture  and  reason  and  human  ex- 
perience and  the  accepted  laws  of  our  moral  con- 
stitution, to  be  thoroughly  convinced  of  both  their 
truth  and  origin. 

Discredited: — But  hy  Whom? 

We  are  aware  that  Swedenborg's  claim  to  have 
so  long  enjoyed  open  intercourse  with  spirits  and 
angels,  and  to  have  been  divinely  commissioned 
to  reveal  what  he  did  conce'rning  the  other  world, 
is  discredited  by  many  honest  and  intelligent 
people.  This  was  to  have  been  expected.  And 
it  is  no  more  to  be  wondered  at,  than  that  the 
mass  of  the  Jewish  people  should  have  discred- 
ited and  rejected  the  Messiah  whose  advent  their 
own  prophets  had  foretold.  Swedenborg  himself 
foresaw  that  he  would  be  discredited ; — that  his 
alleged  mission  and  professed  converse  with 
spirits,  would  encounter  the  derision  of  some, 
the  disbelief  of  more,  and  be  set  down  by  not 
a  few  as  the  impudent  claim  of  an  impostor  or 
the  hallucination  of  a  fanatic.  Thus  he  says 
near  the  commencement  of  his  first  published 
volume : 

"  Many,  I  am  well  aware,  will  insist  that  it  is 
impossible  for  any  one  to  converse  with  spirits 
and  angels  during  his  life  in  the  body ;  many, 
that  such  intercourse  must  be  mere  fancy  and 
illusion ;  some,  that  I  have  invented  such  rela- 


Concerning  Heaven. 


217 


tions  in  order  to  gain  credit ;  while  others  will 
make  other  objections.  To  all  such  objections, 
however,  I  am  quite  indififerent ;  for  I  have  seen, 
have  heard,  and  have  had  sensible  experience  of 
what  I  am  about  to  declare."   (A.  C.  n.  68.) 

And  he  tells  us  why  this  intercourse  was 
granted  him.  It  was,  that  the  tide  of  skepticism 
in  regard  to  the  reality  of  a  spiritual  world,  might 
be  arrested ;  that  men's  faith  in  immortality  might 
be  strengthened  and  confirmed ;  that  the  nature 
of  both  heaven  and  hell  might  be  clearly  under- 
stood ;  and  that  men  might  be  encouraged  and 
helped  on  their  heavenward  way,  by  more  definite 
and  vivid  conceptions  of  the  Future  Life.  Refer- 
ring to  the  prevalent  ignorance  among  Christians 
respecting  the  spiritual  world,  he  says : 

"  The  angels  heartily  rejoice  that  it  has  pleased 
the  Lord  at  this  time  to  reveal  to  mankind  many 
things  respecting  heaven  and  hell;  and  thereby  to 
dispel,  as  far  as  possible,  the  darkness  which  is 
every  day  increasing." 

But  it  should  be  carefully  borne  in  mind,  that 
Swedenborg's  alleged  intercourse  with  spirits  has 
never  been  discredited  by  any  who  have  candidly 
and  thoroughly  studied  his  pneumatology,  so  as  to 
fully  comprehend  it.  This  is  a  fact  worth  consid- 
ering. The  Bible,  vre  know,  has  been  discredited, 
and  its  Divine  authorship  denied ;  but  rarely,  we 

believe,  by  men  who  have  reverently  studied  the 
19 


218     The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

Bible,  and  imbibed  something  of  its  divine  spirit. 
Surely  they  who  have  studied  the  Bible  most  thor- 
oughly, and  heeded  its  precepts  most  reverently, 
are  best  qualified  to  judge  of  its  -  character  and 
claims.  No  value  whatever,  indeed,  is  to  be  at- 
tached to  the  opinion  of  those  who  have  rarely  if 
ever  read  the  Bible.  And  if  we  apply  the  same 
rule  to  the  multitude  who  discredit  Swedenborg 
without  having  first  studied  him,  what  weight 
should  w^e  attach  to  their  opinion  ?  Only  those 
who  have  made  themselves  familiar  with  his  teach- 
ings, are  qualified  to  judge  of  their  value  or  of  the 
validity  of  their  author's  claim  ;  and  by  all  of  this 
class,  without  a  solitary  exception  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge,  the  seer's  credibility  is  ad- 
mitted and  his  claim  conceded. 

One  other  consideration. — He  tells  us  that  the 
almost  constant  sight  of  objects  and  spirits  in  the 
other  world  with  which  he  was  favored  for  so 
many  years,  occurred  in  states  of  full  wakefulness, 
and  was  as  vivid  as  the  sight  of  men  and  objects 
in  this  world.  Now,  (1)  he  either  had  this  ex- 
perience and  did  actually  see  and  converse  with 
spirits  in  the  manner  alleged ;  or  (2)  he  acted  the 
part  of  a  most  villanous  impostor — and  this,  too, 
without  any  adequate  or  conceivable  motive ;  or 
(3)  he  was  under  a  strange  hallucination  for  nearly 
thirty  consecutive  years — all  this  time  mistaking 
the  things  of  his  imagination  for  objective  reali- 


Concerning  Heaven, 


219 


ties.  We  are  inevitably  shut  up  to  one  or  the 
other  of  these  conclusions. 

But  we  presume  not  many  intellig-ent  people 
nowadays  accept  the  second  theory;  for  the  seer's 
biography  has  been  written — the  latest  and  most 
complete,  by  Benjamin  Worcester,  because  com- 
piled from  amplest  and  authentic  documents — and 
is  accessible  to  all. — And  do  the  passages  quoted 
from  his  writings  in  the  previous  pages  of  this 
work,  read  like  the  teachings  of  one  who  was  un- 
able to  distinguish  facts  from  fancies  ? — of  one 
who  knew  not  the  difference  between  subjective 
states  and  objective  realities  ? — of  one  who  could 
not  even  tell  the  difference  between  his  own  lively 
fancies,  and  the  sights  and  sounds  that  he  actually 
saw  and  heard  ?  Yet  this  third  theory  is  the  one 
generally  accepted  by  the  philosophers  (?)  and 
scientists  (?)  and  reputed  sages  of  our  times ! — 
No:  The  first,  which  admits  the  seer's  claim  and 
the  truth  of  his  diclosures,  is  clearly  the  only 
rational  and  sensible  theory.  Admit  this,  and 
straightway  all  difiSculties  vanish. 

The  Neio  Doctrine  concerning  Heaven, 

Let  us  look,  now,  at  some  of  the  things  which 
have  been  revealed  through  Swedenborg  concern- 
ing heaven,  and  see  how  far  these  justify  the  seer's 
claim.  But  we  can  scarcely  do  more  than  give  a 
mere  outline  of  these  sublime  revealings. 


220    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

According  to  the  new  doctrine,  then,  as  now 
rev^ealed,  the  Xew  Church  believes  and  teaches 
that  there  is  a  spiritual  world  inhabited  by  spirits 
and  angels,  far  more  populous  than  the  world  in 
which  we  are  now  living,  and  as  much  more  sub- 
stantial, too,  as  the  soul  is  more  substantial  than 
the  body.  All  the  inhabitants  of  that  world  were 
once  dwellers  on  this  or  some  other  earth — hav- 
ing commenced  their  existence  on  the  lowest  plane 
of  human  life.  They  are  not  remote  from  men 
as  to  space,  but  are  very  near,  and  intimately  as- 
sociated with  them  as  the  soul  with  the  body. 

The  good  and  the  evil  (for  there  are  both  classes 
in  the  other  world,  as  there  are  in  this)  are  soon 
separated  there,  forming  two  grand  divisions,  a 
heaven  of  angels  and  a  hell  of  devils.  And  this 
is  no  arbitrary  division,  but  one  which  takes  place 
under  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of 
divine  law,  and  with  the  full  consent  of  all  the 
inhabitants,  whose  best  welfare  the  Divine  Mercy 
perpetually  wills,  and  is  forever  seeking ; — the 
welfare  of  the  evil  not  less  than  that  of  the  good, 
for  all  are  alike  subjects  of  the  Divine  regard. 

Character  of  the  Heavenly  Inhabitants. 

The  angels,  viewed  collectively,  are  called 
heaven ;  yet  the  essential  constituent  of  heaven 
is  the  Divine  of  the  Lord  in  the  angels.  In  the 
degree  that  they  receive  His  influent  life,  which 


Concerning  Heaven.  221 

is  the  life  of  unselfish  love,  and  perceive  and  ac- 
knowledge that  it  is  the  Lord's  life  and  not  their 
own,  they  are  blessed  ;  for  they  are  all  images  and 
likenesses  of  Him,  though  in  different  degrees  ac- 
cording to  reception.  No  one  can  enter  heaven, 
or  remain  there,  unless  he  has  something  of  heaven 
in  himself ;  for  the  essence  of  heaven  is  within 
the  soul.  (See  Luke  xvii.  21.)  Those  in  the 
highest  states  (for  the  states  of  the  angels  are 
infinitely  various)  love  others  even  better  than 
themselves ;  and  their  wisdom  is  equal  to  their 
love,  being  so  superior  to  the  wisdom  of  men,  as 
scarcely  to  admit  of  comparison.  They  take  the 
highest  delight  in  communicating  to  each  other 
all  the  good  things  they  receive  from  the  Lord, 
for  such  is  the  nature  of  true  love ;  and  the  more 
they  give,  the  more  are  their  souls  opened  to  the 
influx  of  like  things  from  the  Lord,  and  the  greater 
their  delight.    Swedenborg  says  : 

"Heaven  is  a  communion  of  all  good  things, 
because  heavenly  love  wills  that  what  is  its  own 
should  be  another's.  Consequently  no  one  in 
heaven  perceives  his  own  good  in  himself  as  good, 
unless  it  be  also  in  another.  Thence  also  is  the 
happiness  of  heaven.  The  angels  derive  from  the 
Lord  this  disposition  to  communicate  ;  for  such  is 
the  nature  of  Divine  Love.  That  there  is  such 
communication  in  the  heavens,  has  also  been  given 
me  to  know  by  experience."  (H.  H.  268.) 

They  are  in  genuine  innocence — the  innocence 
19* 


222    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

of  wisdom — which  consists  in  a  desire  to  be  led 
and  governed  by  the  Lord  in  all  things,  and  in 
the  constant  recognition  of  Him  as  the  fountain 
of  life,  and  the  immediate  giver  of  all  the  love 
and  wisdom  they  possess.  They  love  every- 
thing that  is  good,  and  are  delighted  with  every- 
thing that  is  true ;  for  they  know  that  to  love 
what  is  good,  that  is,  to  will  and  do  it,  is  to  love 
the  Lord ;  and  to  love  what  is  true,  is  to  love  the 
neighbor." 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  character  of  the  angels  as 
revealed  through  Swedenborg — a  character  that 
is  forever  becoming  more  and  more  perfect ;  for 
they  are  perpetually  receiving  fresh  increments 
of  intelligence  and  wisdom  from  the  Lord,  so  that 
their  progress  in  the  heavenly  life  is  unending. 

Distributed  into  Societies, 

The  angels  are  not  all  equally  wise  and  good ; 
consequently  they  do  not  all  dwell  together  pro- 
miscuously, but  are  distributed  or  arranged  in  an 
order  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect.  In  general 
there  are  three  heavens,  called  celestial,  spiritual, 
and  natural.  These  are  separated  by  discrete  de- 
grees, like  the  degrees  of  the  human  mind ;  and 
like  these,  also,  they  communicate  by  correspond- 
ence. They  are  related  to  each  other  like  end, 
cause  and  effect ;  or  like  the  three  classes  of  per- 
sons connected  with  every  well-arranged  institu- 


Concerning  Heaven. 


223 


tioii  or  enterprise  on  earth.  These  are :  1st.  The 
persons  who  conceive  and  start  the  enterprise,  and 
perhaps  furnish  the  needed  capital :  2d.  Those  who 
have  the  requisite  knowledge  to  carry  it  forward 
to  completion :  and  3d.  Those  who  do  the  work, 
or  obey  the  directions  of  the  knowing  ones  im- 
mediately above  them.  These  three  classes,  which 
are  to  be  found  co-existing  everywhere  in  the  most 
advanced  Christian  civilization,  are  seen  to  stand 
to  each  other  in  the  relation  of  end,  cause  and 
effect,  and  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the  three 
angelic  heavens.  Yiewed  naturally,  they  are  to- 
gether on  the  same  plane  here,  being  all  in  the 
natural  realm ;  but  viewed  spiritually,  as  to  in- 
tention, thought  and  intelligence  touching  the 
enterprise,  they  are  on  different  planes  separated 
by  a  discrete  degree,  yet  each  flowing  into  and 
animating  the  next  below  it ;  and  so  the  three 
classes  act  simultaneously  by  correspondence  as 
one  mind. 

Then  the  angels  of  each  heaven  are  arranged 
into  innumerable  societies,  some  of  them  consist- 
ing of  myriads,  others  of  thousands,  and  others 
still  of  some  hundreds,  of  angels.  There  is  noth- 
ing forced  or  arbitrary  in  this  arrangement.  Each 
one  goes  in  freedom  to  the  society  of  those  who 
are  most  like  himself,  being  drawn  thither  by  the 
law  of  spiritual  affinity  which  attracts  and  holds 
like  ones  together.    There  he  is  perfectly  at  home, 


224    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


being  with  those  who  are  in  complete  sympathy 
with  him,  and  whom  he  seems  to  have  known 
from  earliest  infancy.  And  as  those  of  the  same 
society  are  all  in  a  similar  kind  and  degree  of 
good,  there  is  a  family  likeness  even  in  their 
faces ;  for  in  heaven  the  face  is  a  perfect  index  or 
mirror  of  the  mind.  There  is  an  endless  diver- 
sity among  the  heavenly  societies,  no  two  of  them 
being  in  the  same  kind  and  degree  of  good  and 
truth.  In  this  respect  they  resemble  the  various 
organs  of  the  human  body,  with  which  they  per- 
fectly correspond — so  perfectly,  indeed,  that  the 
whole  heaven  appears  before  the  Lord  as  one 
man,  and  is  often  called  by  Swedenborg,  Maxi- 
mus  Homo. 

Does  it  seem  absurd  to  speak  of  the  whole 
heaven  of  angels  as  resembling  one  man,  or  to 
call  heaven  ''the  Greatest  Man"?  There  is  no 
other  conceivable  way  in  which  the  exact  truth 
could  be  so  well  or  so  concisely  expressed.  For 
the  meaning  is  simply  this :  That  the  diversity, 
unity,  harmony,  mutual  dependence,  and  perfect 
concert  of  action  existing  among  the  societies 
which  constitute  the  whole  heaven  of  angels, 
are  similar  to,  and  perfectly  correspondent  with, 
what  are  known  to  exist  among  the  different 
parts  of  the  human  body.  And  were  we  seek- 
ing for.  something  to  illustrate  the  most  per- 
fect unity  and  harmony  coupled  with  mutual  de- 


Concerning  Heaven, 


225 


pendence  and  the  greatest  conceivable  variety,  is 
not  the  human  body  the  very  thing  we  should 
select  ?  And  as  all  parts  of  the  body  are  nour- 
ished and  vitalized  by  the  same  blood,  so  all  the 
diverse  angelic  societies  are  pervaded  and  ani- 
mated by  one  and  the  same  Divine  Spirit.  The 
Lord's  own  life  is  the  animating  principle — the 
very  life-blood — of  them  all. 

Time  and  Space  in  Heaven. 

Time  in  the  natural  world  is  measured  by  some 
regular  movement  through  space,  as  the  hands  of 
a  clock,  or  the  earth's  revolution  on  its  axis  or 
around  the  sun.  In  heaven  there  is  no  such  time 
as  this.  There  is  an  appearance  of  time  there  as 
here,  but  it  is  caused  by,  and  is  in  correspondence 
with,  the  changes  of  state  with  the  angels.  Speak- 
ing of  the  apparent  movement  of  the  sun  of  our 
world,  producing  what  we  call  time,  Swedenborg 
says : 

"  It  is  otherwise  with  the  sun  of  heaven.  This 
does  not,  by  successive  progressions  and  revolu- 
tions, cause  years  and  days,  but  to  appearance 
changes  of  state ;  and  these  not  at  regular  inter- 
vals. Hence  the  angels  have  no  knowledge  of 
the  things  which  belong  to  time,  as  a  year,  a 
month,  a  week,  a  day,  an  hour,  to-day,  to-mor- 
row, yesterday.  When  they  hear  them  named 
by  man,  they  have,  instead  of  them,  a  perception 
of  states,  and  of  such  things  as  relate  to  state. 
Thus  the  natural  idea  of  man,  is  turned  into  a 
P 


226    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


spiritual  idea  with  the  angels.  Hence  it  is  that 
times  in  the  Word  signify  states ;  and  that  the 
things  which  are  proper  to  time,  signify  spiritual 
things  corresponding  to  them."    (H.  H.  164,  '5.) 

It  is  easy  to  believe  this,  if  we  reflect  upon  what 
is  happening  every  day  in  this  world.  When  the 
mind  is  thoroughly  absorbed  in  any  subject,  or 
agreeably  entertained  by  genial  company,  we  take 
no  note  of  time.  Hours  pass,  but  they  seem  to  us 
as  minutes.  Again,  in  moments  of  distressing  anx- 
iety, as  when  one's  house  is  on  fire  or  his  child  has 
fallen  into  the  water,  seconds  seem  as  minutes  and 
minutes  as  hours.  And  again  in  our  dreams,  we 
sometimes  have  the  experience  of  days  crowded 
into  a  few  moments  of  natural  time.  In  a  few 
minutes  we  make  jdurneys  and  accomplish  deeds 
which  it  would  require  days,  weeks,  and  even 
months  to  perform.  All  of  which  is  so  much  evi- 
dence from  our  own  experience,  that  in  the  spir- 
itual realm  there  exists  not  what  we  call  time,  but 
state  instead. 

Xor  does  natural  space  exist  in  heaven;  yet 
things  appear  to  be  in  space  there,  and  people  ap- 
pear to  go  from  place  to  plaee  by  the  exercise  of 
their  powers  of  locomotion,  the  same  as  on  earth. 
But  this  appearance  results  from  a  change  of 
state,  the  visible  correspondent  of  which  is  a 
change  of  place.  When  Paul  was  caught  up  to 
the  third  heaven,  his  body  underwent  no  change 


Concerning  Heaven. 


227 


of  place,  though  there  was  doubtless  the  appear- 
ance to  the  apostle  of  his  being  lifted  up  through 
space.  But  in  reality  he  only  underwent  a  sud- 
den change  of  state — the  interiors  of  his  mind 
being  opened  to  the  third  degree.  This  is  the 
way  he  was  caught  up — up,  the  same  as  high, 
meaning  spiritually  what  is  interior  in  the  soul. 
So  when  the  Lord  says,  "come  unto  me,"  etc., 
He  is  to  be  understood  spiritually,  as  inviting  us 
to  come  into  sympathy  with,  or  spiritual  likeness 
to.  Himself ; — to  pass  from  a  state  of  mind  which 
is  spiritually  remote,  into  one  which  is  spiritually 
near  (that  is,  akin)  to  his  own — and  not  from 
one  place  to  another.  Place  corresponds  to  state ; 
and  a  change  of  place,  therefore,  corresponds  to  a 
change  of  state. 

"Hence  it  is,"  says  Swedenborg,  "that,  in  the 
Word,  by  places  and  spaces  and  all  things  relating 
to  spaces,  are  signified  such  things  as  belong  to 
state.  . .  Nothing  in  heaven  is  estimated  by  spaces, 
but  by  states ;  consequently  spaces  can  only  be 
seen  there  from  and  according  to  the  state  of  the 
interiors  of  the  angels."   (H.  H.  197,  '8.) 

"  By  changes  in  the  state  of  my  interiors,  have 
I  also  been  conducted  by  the  Lord  into  the  heavens, 
and  likewise  to  the  earth's  in  the  universe.  I  was 
carried  there  as  to  my  spirit  only,  my  body  mean- 
while remaining  in  the  same  place.  Thus  do  all 
the  angels  journey.  They  have  no  spaces  nor 
distances,  but  instead  of  these  they  have  states 
and  their  changes."    (Ibid.  192.) 


228     The  Doctrines  of  the  Neic  Church. 


The  Light  and  Heat  of  Heaven. 

If  heaven  is  a  realm  inhabited  by  thinking, 
loving,  active,  human  beings,  it  were  reasonable 
to  expect  there  would  be  light  and  heat  there 
suited  to  the  wants  of  its  inhabitants.  Both 
reason  and  Scripture  justify  such  expectation. 
And  we  should  expect  that  these,  like  the  light 
and  heat  of  the  natural  world,  would  emanate 
from  some  central  source.  Paul,  on  his  way  to 
Damascus,  saw  "  at  midday  a  light  from  heaven 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining  round 
about  him  and  them  that  journeyed  with  him  " 
(Acts  xxvi.  13)  ;  and  he  calls  the  appearance  of 
that  great  light  a  "  heavenly  vision,"  which  shows 
that  he  regarded  it  as  the  light  of  heaven.  And 
the  words  he  heard  told  him  from  whom  came 
that  dazzling  light.  Whence  should  come  the  light 
and  heat  of  heaven,  but  from  Him  who  is  "  the 
Light  of  the  world  " — the  Illuminator  of  all  minds 
— "  the  Sun  of  righteousness  (Mai.  iv.  2) — the 
spiritual  and  living  Sun  ?  So  did  the  Lord  J esus 
Christ  appear  to  the  disciples  on  the  mount  of 
transfiguration  ;  for  "  his  face  shone  as  the  sun, 
and  his  garments  were  white  as  the  light."  So, 
also,  did  He  appear  to  John  when  he  was  "  in 
the  spirit ;  "  His  countenance  was  as  the  sun 
shineth  in  his  strength  "  (Rev.  i.  16).  And  it  is 
plain  that  the  light  and  heat  fi'om  such  a  source 


Concerning  Heaven, 


229 


must  be  spiritual  in  their  nature  ;  otherwise  they 
would  not  be  suited  to  the  condition  and  wants 
of  spiritual  beings.  And  what  can  spiritual  light 
and  heat  be,  but  the  light  of  Divine  truth  which 
illumines  the  understanding,  and  the  warmth  of 
Divine  love  which  sets  the  heart  aglow  ?  Ac- 
cordingly Swedenborg  says : 

"  That  there  is  light  in  heaven  cannot  be  com- 
prehended by  those  who  think  only  from  nature ; 
when  yet  the  light  there  is  so  great  as  to  exceed 
by  many  degrees  the  midday  light  of  the  world. 
I  have  often  seen  it  in  the  evening  and  night.  .  .  . 
Its  whiteness  and  brilliancy  surpass  all  descrip- 
tion. The  things  seen  by  me  in  heaven,  were 
seen  in  that  light,  and  more  clearly  and  distinctly 
than  things  in  the  world." 

,  "  The  light  of  heaven  is  not  natural  like  that 
of  the  world,  but  spiritual ;  for  it  proceeds  from 
the  Lord  as  a  sun,  and  in  its  essence  is  divine 
truth.  And  the  heat  of  heaven  is  spiritual,  as 
well  as  its  light,  for  it  is  from  the  same  origin ; 
and  this  heat  in  its  essence  is  love." 

"  The  heat  of  heaven,  like  its  light,  is  every- 
where various.  That  in  the  celestial  kingdom 
differs  from  that  in  the  spiritual ;  and  it  differs 
also  in  every  society.  And  it  differs  not  only  in 
degree,  but  even  in  kind, — being  more  intense  and 
pure  in  the  celestial  than  in  the  spiritual  kingdom 
of  the  Lord,  because  the  angels  there  are  more 
receptive  of  the  divine  good."  (H.  H.  126,  't, 
'34.) 

20 


230    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


Changes  of  State  in  Heaven. 

According  to  Swedenborg,  the  angels  are  not 
constantly  in  the  same  state.  Sometimes  their 
love  is  more  intense  than  at  others,  and  their  per- 
ception of  truth  consequently  more  clear.  When 
their  love  is  most  intense,  they  are  in  their  most 
luminous  and  delightful  state ;  but  when  it  is 
least  intense,  they  are  comparatively  "in  shade 
and  cold,  or  in  their  state  of  obscurity  and  unde- 
light.  From  the  latter  state  they  return  again  to 
the  former;  and  so  on."  And  the  various  objects 
which  appear  before  their  eyes,  *'  are  also  changed 
with  the  states  of  their  interiors;  for  the  things 
without  them  assume  an  appearance  correspond- 
ing to  those  within  them."  Thus  they  have  their 
morning,  noon,  and  evening  states  ;  but  "  there  is 
no  correspondence  of  night  with  the  states  of  those 
in  heaven,"  only  "  of  the  twilight  which  precedes 
the  morning," — the  correspondence  of  night  being 
only  with  the  states  of  those  who  are  in  hell. 

The  Appearance,  Garments,  Habitations,  and 
other  Surroundings  of  the  Angels. 

Swedenborg  sometimes  speaks  of  the  personal 
appearance  of  the  angels,  and  says  their  beauty  is 
indescribable ;  but  some  are  more  beautiful  than 
others — their  beauty  depending  on  the  degree  of 
fulness  with  which  they  receive  into  their  hearts 


Concerning  Heaven, 


231 


the  Lord's  love  and  wisdom.  It  is  this  which 
moulds  their  features  into  forms  of  such  exquisite 
grace.  Their  beautiful  faces  correspond  to  their 
beautiful  souls,  of  which  their  faces  are  the  true 
and  faithful  mirrors.  And  the  more  perfectly  they 
receive  the  Lord's  life,  "so  much  the  more  perfect 
human  forms  do  they  become ;  and  at  length 
so  perfect  that  their  beauty  exceeds  all  belief. 
Should  one  see  them  he  would  be  amazed;  for 
they  are  celestial  loves  and  charities  in  form, 
which  is  the  truly  human  form.  The  reason  is, 
that  the  divine  in  heaven  is  the  Lord ;  and  they 
who  receive  from  Him  divine  truths  in  good,  are 
images  of  Him."   (A.  C.  9503).   Again  he  says : 

"  The  human  form  of  every  one  after  death,  is 
the  more  beautiful  the  more  he  had  interiorly 
loved  divine  truths,  and  lived  according  to  them ; 
for  the  interiors  of  every  one  are  opened  and 
formed  according  to  his  love  and  life.  Therefore 
the  angels  of  the  inmost  heaven  are  the  most  beau- 
tiful. .  .  I  have  seen  the  faces  of  angels  in  this 
heaven,  which  were  so  beautiful  that  no  painter 
could  ever  impart  to  colors  such  animation  as  to 
equal  a  thousandth  part  of  the  brightness  and  life 
that  appeared  in  their  faces."    (H.  H.  459.) 

And  the  objects  in  heaven  which  the  angels  be-  . 
hold,  and  in  the  midst  of  which  they  dwell,  are 
similar  to,  yet  far  more  beautiful  and  perfect  in 
form  and  more  abundant  in  number  than,  the 
objects  seen  on  earth ;  but  they  are  all  spiritual 


232    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 


in  their  nature,  else  they  would  not  be  suited  to 
the  wants  of  spiritual  beings.  The  angels  are 
clad  in  most  beautiful  garments,  but  some  more 
beautiful  than  others,  according  to  the  measure  of 
the  wearer's  intelligence — for  this  is  what  their 
garments  correspond  to.  The  most  intelligent 
have  garments  that  glitter  as  from  flame,  some 
those  that  shine  as  from  light;  the  less  intelligent 
have  bright  and  white  garments  without  splendor; 
and  the  still  less  intelligent  have  garments  of  vari- 
ous colors."  And  "their  garments  are  changed 
as  their  states  change."    (H.  H.  178,  181.) 

The  angels  also  dwell  in  houses  more  or  less 
magnificent  according  to  the  state  of  each  one ; 
for  the  house  in  heaven,  with  all  its  furniture  and 
decorations,  is  the  correspondential  image  of  the 
occupant's  interior  state.  But  the  houses  there 
are  not  built  like  houses  in  the  world,  but  are 
given  to  the  angels  gratis  by  the  Lord.  They 
also  change  a  little  from  time  to  time,  as  the  states 
of  the  angels  change.  Swedenborg  speaks  of  some 
of  the  palaces  he  saw  in  heaven  as  magnificent 
beyond  description."  And  "  the  splendor  without 
was  equalled  by  the  magnificence  within.  The 
apartments  were  ornamented  with  decorations 
which  no  language  can  adequately  describe."  But 
such  things  delight  the  minds  more  than  the  eyes 
of  the  angels,  "because  in  everything  they  see 
correspondences,  and  by  them  things  divine." 


Concerning  Heaven. 


233 


The  scenery,  too,  by  which  the  angels  are  sur- 
rounded, is  described  as  far  more  magnificent  than 
any  ever  seen  on  earth.  Hills  and  valleys,  foun- 
tains and  streams,  gardens  and  groves,  trees  and 
flowers,  clustering  vines  and  delicious  fruits,  "such 
as  were  never  seen  in  the  natural  world" — "all 
of  such  beauty  as  no  language  can  describe."  And 
all  their  beautiful  surroundings  are  but  the  embod- 
ied forms  of  their  own  wise  thoughts  and  sweet 
affections — a  mirror  reflecting  with  mathematical 
precision,  under  the  great  law  of  correspondence, 
the  living  and  lovely  things  within  their  own  souls. 
They  are  created  and  exist  through  the  angels, 
and  are  in  exact  correspondence  with  their  inter- 
nal states ;  and  they  change,  therefore,  as  their 
states  change — the  outward  or  phenomenal  world 
in  heaven,  being  always  in  correspondence  with 
the  internal  states  of  its  denizens. 

Government  and  Worship  in  Heaven. 

As  there  are  societies  in  heaven,  some  of  them 
consisting  of  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
angels,  and  as  all  in  any  society  are  not  equally 
wise,  we  should  expect  to  find  some  kind  of 
government  there ;  and  we  should  expect,  also, 
that  the  wisest  and  best  of  the  angels  would  be 
appointed  to  administer  the  government, — those 
who  are  least  in  the  love  or  thought  of  themselves, 
and  most  in  the  thought  and  love  of  serving,  and 
20* 


234    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

who  best  know  how  to  serve.  We  should  further 
expect  that  the  fitness  of  every  one  for  the  par- 
ticular governmental  position  he  is  called  to  fill, 
would  be  perceived  and  acknowledged  by  all,  and 
that  all  administrative  powers  would  be  so  kindly 
and  wisely  exercised,  that  nothing  like  friction 
would  be  felt  in  the  working  of  the  machinery, 
but  that  all  would  move  on  as  smoothly  and  har- 
moniously as  the  machinery  in  a  loving  family  or 
a  healthy  human  body.  We  should  expect  this, 
from  the  character  of  the  angels  as  already  de- 
scribed (pp.  121, '2),  as  well  as  from  the  perfection 
of  their  social  organization.  And  we  should  fur- 
ther expect  that  the  government  would  not  be  the 
same  in  every  society,  but  would  vary  to  suit  their 
various  states. 

Now,  all  this  (and  much  more  of  like  character) 
which  seems  so  reasonable,  is  precisely  what  has 
been  revealed  through  Swedenborg  on  the  subject. 
He  says  "  there  are  governments  in  heaven,"  and 
that  these  are  ['  various,"  different  in  the  higher 
from  what  they  are  in  the  lower  heavens,  and 
"  differing  also  according  to  the  ministries  per- 
formed by  each  society."  But  "  they  all  agree  in 
this :  That  they  regard  the  general  good  as  their 
end,  and  in  that  the  good  of  every  individual." 
This  results  from  the  fact  that  all  in  heaven  are 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Lord,  "  who  loves  all, 
and  from  divine  love  ordains  that  the  common 


Concerning  Heaven,  235 


good  shall  be  the  source  of  good  to  every  indi- 
vidual." And  of  the  governors,  he  says  :  "  They 
are  in*  love  and  wisdom  more  than  others ;  and 
they  will  well  to  all  from  love,  and  from  wisdom 
know  how  to  provide  that  the  good  they  desire 
may  be  realized."  And  being  of  this  character, 
"  they  do  not  domineer  or  command  imperiously, 
but  minister  and  serve.  .  .  .  Nor  do  they  account 
themselves  greater  than  others,  but  less,  for  they 
put  the  good  of  society  and  of  their  neighbor  in 
the  first  place,  but  their  own  good  in  the  last." 
They  live  in  magnificent  palaces  and  in  more  ele- 
vated situations  than  others,  accepting  the  honor 
conferred  on  them,  "  not  for  the  sake  of  themselves 
but  for  the  sake  of  obedience ;  for  all  in  heaven 
know  that  honor  and  glory  are  from  the  Lord, 
and  that  for  this  reason  they  ought  to  be  obeyed." 
So  that  the  government  in  heaven  is  altogether 
one  of  mutual  love  and  service. 

There  are  also  temples  for  worship  in  heaven ; 
"  for  the  angels  are  being  continually  perfected  in 
wisdom  and  love,"  and  social  worship  there  as 
here  is  one  of  the  divinely  appointed  means  of 
growth  in  grace.  Swedenborg  says  that  he  was 
several  times  permitted  to  enter  their  temples  and 
listen  to  the  discourses,  "  which  were  fraught  with 
such  wisdom  that  none  in  the  world  can  be  com- 
pared with  them,"  all  the  preachers  being  "in 
interior  light."    The  doctrines  there  preached 


236    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

"agree  as  to  essentials,"  of  which  the  most 
essential  is  the  Divine  Humanity  of  the  Lord, 
and  are  "  suited  to  the  perception  of  the*  angels 
in  each  heaven ; "  but  the  preaching  is  more  re- 
plete with  wisdom  in  the  superior  or  inmost 
heaven,  than  in  the  others.  The  truths  taught 
there,  "  all  regard  life  as  their  end,"  and  are  at 
once  perceived  and  acknowledged  by  the  hearers 
to  be  true.  And  the  truths  which  they  perceive, 
they  also  love ;  and  by  living  according  to  them, 
they  incorporate  them  into  their  lives.  To  live 
according  to  truths,  they  say,  is  to  love  the  Lord." 

But  real  divine  worship  in  heaven  does  not 
consist  in  frequenting  temples  and  listening  to 
sermons,  but  in  a  life  of  love,  charity  and  faith 
according  to  doctrine.  Sermons  in  the  temples 
serve  only  as  a  means  of  instruction  in  the  con- 
duct of  life.  I  have  talked  with  the  angels  on 
this  subject ;  and  they  said  that  going  to  church, 
hearing  sermons,  attending  the  sacrament  of  the 
holy  supper,  etc.,  are  externals  which  ought  to  be 
observed,  but  are  of  no  avail  unless  there  be  an 
internal  from  which  they  proceed ;  and  that  this 
internal  is  a  life  according  to  the  precepts  which 
doctrine  teaches."    (H.  H.  222.) 

Children  in  Heaven. 

It  is  not  uncommon  nowadays  to  meet  with 
even  professed  Calvinists  who  do  not  know,  and 
will  stoutly  deny,  that  their  church  ever  believed 
a  doctrine  so  revolting  as  that  of  infant  damna- 


Concerning  Heaven. 


237 


Hon.  Yet  so  prevalent  was  this  belief  in  all 
branches  of  the  Christian  church,  both  Catholic 
and  Protestant,  prior  to  Swedenborg's  time,  that 
the  few  who  rejected  it  were  counted  as  heretics.* 
Yet  this  old  doctrine  finds  few  believers  now  in 
any  of  the  churches,  though  it  is  still  taught  (by- 
implication,  at  least)  in  some  of  the  creeds.  It 
belongs  to  the  Old  Christian  Age  which  is  fast 
passing  away,  and  is  part  and  parcel  of  that  huge 
heap  of  theological  error  which  had  been  accu- 
mulating for  fifteen  centuries,  and  which  finally 
brought  the  former  Christian  Church  to  its  end, 
and  made  a  New  Dispensation  necessary. 

Why  is  it  that  this  old  but  once  prevalent  be- 
Hef  has  become  so  unpopular  in  our  time,  and 
-  now  looks  so  hideous  to  everybody?  Why  does  it 
everywhere  shrink  from  exposure,  and  anxiously 
seek  to  hide  its  head  ?  Why  is  it  no  longer  pro- 
claimed from  the  pulpit,  or  defended  in  theological 
treatises,  or  owned  and  accepted  even  by  the 
stanchest  Calvinist  ?  Why,  indeed,  but  because 
new  light  has  dawned  on  the  world,  making  more 
and  more  manifest  the  things  of  darkness  ?  Why, 
but  because  heaven  has  been  opened,  and  the  re- 
joicing beams  of  the  spiritual  Sun  have  begun  to 


*  If  the  reader  doubts  this,  let  him  consult  a  small  work  by  the 
author,  published  in  1855,  entitled  "  Beauty  for  Ashes,"  and  the 
many  and  high  authorities  there  cited  in  Part  I.,  cannot  fail  to 
dispel  his  doubts. 


238     The  Doctrines  of  the  ISfew  Church. 


penetrate  the  dark  corners  of  the  earth,  and  com- 
pel the  creatures  of  the  night  to  retire  to  their 
hiding-places  ? 

Yes:  It  is. plain  to  the  most  superficial  observer, 
that  we  are  living  at  the  commencement  of  a  New 
Age — an  Age  of  general  and  rational  enlighten- 
ment. The  things  of  the  Old  Age  are  gradually 
passing  away,  and  all  things  are  being  made  new, 
agreeable  to  Divine  promise  (see  Rev.  xxi.  5). 
It  is  the  time  of  the  second  appearing  of  Him 
whose  advent  was  foretold,  and  which  it  was 
promised  should  be  "as  the  lightning  which 
Cometh  out  of  the  east,  and  shineth  even  unto 
the  west."  It  is  the  dawn  of  that  great  day 
when,  as  the  prophet  says,  "  a  man  shall  cast  his 
idols  of  silver  and  his  idols  of  gold,  which  they 
made  each  one  for  himself  to  worship,  to  the 
moles  and  to  the  bats ;  to  go  into  the  clefts  of 
the  rocks,  and  into  the  tops  of  the  ragged  rocks, 
for  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  for  the  glory  of  his 
majesty  "  (Isa.  ii.  20,  21).  And  as  the  light  of 
this  New  Dispensation  becomes  more  and  more 
diffused,  it  needs  not  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  fore- 
see that  the  time  is  not  distant  when  it  must  fare 
with  some  other  doctrines — still  held  by  multi- 
tudes in  good  repute — as  it  has  already  fared  with 
the  old  doctrine  of  the  damnation  of  infants. 

Listen,  now,  to  the  revealed  doctrine  of  the 
New  Church  on  this  subject.    According  to  this 


Concerning  Heaven.  239 

doctrine,  all  who  die  in  infancy  and  childhood,  go 
directly  to  heaven ;  that  is,  they  pass  immediately 
into  some  one  of  the  angelic  societies,  and  are  so 
instructed  and  governed  by  the  angels,  that  they 
all  in  due  time  become  angels.  Nor  does  this 
depend  on  the  character  of  their  parents,  as  whether 
they  are  righteous  or  wicked,  in  the  church  or  out 
of  it,  Christians  or  Pagans;  nor  upon  the  cir- 
cumstance of  their  having  received  the  rite  of 
baptism  or  not.  They  are  not  angels  immediately 
after  their  decease,  for  they  lack  the  Intelligence 
and  wisdom  which  angels  have.  Or,  they  are 
rudimental  angels,  as  little  children  on  earth  are 
rudimental  men  and  women.  They  have  the 
same  spiritual  organism,  and  consequently  the 
same  infantile  forms  and  infantile  minds,  that 
they  had  while  in  the  world.  But  they  do  not 
forever  remain  infants.  They  advance  there  to 
the  full  stature  of  men  and  women.  They  ^ow 
by  the  assimilation  of  spiritual  substance,  as 
children  in  this  world  grow  by  the  assimilation 
of  material  substance ;  for  the  bodies  of  both 
angels  and  men,  are  formed  of  the  substances 
belonging  to  their  respective  worlds. 

But  children  in  heaven  do  not  grow  old  as  they 
do  in  this  world.  They  never  advance  there  be- 
yond the  period  of  early  manhood  or  womanhood, 
but  retain  forever  the  freshness  and  bloom  belong- 
ing to  that  age.    But  they  must  attain  the  fullness 


240    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

and  perfection  of  the  angelic  form,  in  order  that 
they  may  receive  angelic  life  in  its  fullness,  or 
have  their  human  faculties  unfolded,  strengthened 
and  perfected  in  the  highest  degree.  For  in  the 
normal  condition  of  all  living  objects,  the  form 
must  correspond  to  the  essence ;  and  the  perfec- 
tion and  fullness  of  angelic  life  could  no  more 
be  given  to  the  immature  form  of  a  little  infant, 
than  the  savory  qualities  of  the  peach  full-grown 
and  ripe,  could  be  imparted  to  the  germ  of  that 
fruit  as  soon  as  the  blossom  has  fallen. 

Little  children,  immediately  after  death,  "  are 
conveyed  to  heaven  and  delivered  to  the  care  of 
angels  of  the  female  sex,  who  in  the  life  of  the 
body  loved  children  tenderly,  and  at  the  same 
time  loved  God.  These  angels  receive  them  as 
their  own ;  and  the  little  ones,  from  an  implanted 
affection,  love  them  as  their  own  mothers ;  "  so 
that  they  never  feel  forlorn  or  homesick.  All 
their  wants  are  abundantly  supplied.  They  are 
tenderly  cared  for,  and  so  wisely  governed  that 
their  hereditary  evils  are  never  aroused  into  ac- 
tivity. They  witness  no  exhibitions  of  turbulent 
passion ;  they  hear  no  profane  or  angry  words ; 
they  look  upon  no  wicked  deeds.  They  are  en- 
veloped in  an  atmosphere  of  the  tenderest  and 
sweetest  love.  Love  breathes  in  every  tone  they 
hear ;  love  beams  in  every  face  they  see ;  love 
moulds  the  -forms,  and  prompts  the  wotds,  and 


Conceniing  Heaven. 


241 


shapes  the  deeds  of  all  around  them.  Even  the 
gardens,  trees  and  flowers,  and  all  the  beautiful 
objects  that  greet  their  senses,  are  but  the  em- 
bodied forms  of  the  sweet  affections  and  noble 
thoughts  that  are  poured  into  their  innocent  and 
receptive  minds  in  a  constant,  fresh  and  living 
stream.  And  recently  the  heavenly  methods  of 
instructing  little  children,  as  revealed  through 
Swedenborg,  have  begun  to  be  adopted  by  our 
best  earthly  educators,  and  in  our  most  advanced 
Christian  communities. 

Such  is  a  meagre  outline  of  the  doctrine  re- 
vealed for  the  New  Church  concerning  children 
after  death.  Is  there  anything  unscriptural  or 
unreasonable  in  it? — anything  to  awaken  a  doubt 
about  its  truth  ?  Then  how  does  it  look  by  the 
side  of  the  Old  doctrine  on  the  same  subject  ? 

A  Heaven  for  the  Heathen. 
Up  to  the  time  when  Swedenborg  wrote,  it  was 
a  part  of  the  current  creed  of  Christendom,  that 
salvation  for  any  but  Christians  was  quite  out  of 
the  question  ;  that  all  in  heathen  lands,  therefore, 
unless  converted  to  the  Christian  religion,  must 
perish  everlastingly.  This  belief  was  one  of  the 
legitimate  offspring  of  the  generally  accepted  doc- 
trines of  a  vicarious  atonement  and  salvation  by 
faith  alone.  For  these  doctrines,  and  even  the 
particular  form  in  which  they  were  held,  being 
21  Q 


242    The  Doctrines  of  the  Neic  Church. 

regarded  as  absolutely  essential  to  salvation,  the 
damnation  of  all  unconverted  heathen  followed  as 
a  logical  conclusion.  For  how  could  people  be- 
lieve in  a  vicarious  atonement,  who  never  heard 
of  a  crucified  Redeemer  ?  Yet,  for  not  believing 
in  that  of  which  they  never  heard,  millions  of  hu- 
man beings  (so  Christians  believed  and  taught) 
must  be  shut  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
forever  suffer  the  torments  of  the  damned  I 

One  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  more  unreasona- 
ble or  revolting  doctrine  than  this,  or  one  more 
derogatory  to  the  character  of  the  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther. And  in  what  a  sad  and  unenlightened  state 
must  the  Church  have  been,  when  such  a  belief 
could  be  generally  entertained  I  Every  one  who 
allows  himself  to  think  apart  from  his  creed,  or 
who  consults  the  feelings  and  intuitions  of  his 
better  nature,  knows  that  such  a  doctrine  cannot 
be  true ;  for  if  true,  it  would  stamp  the  supreme 
Ruler  of  the  universe  as  the  most  abominable  of 
tyrants.  The  Sacred  Scripture,  enlightened  rea- 
son, our  sense  of  justice,  and  every  tender  and 
humane  sentiment,  are  alike  opposed  to  such  an 
idea. 

And  these  same  witnesses  further  concur  in 
teaching,  that  He  who  is  Love  itself  and  Wisdom 
itself  could  not  create  beings  capable  of  blissful 
conjunction  with  Himself,  and  then  leave  them 
without  the  means  or  possibility  of  attaining  to 


Concerning  Heaven. 


243 


that  conjunction.  Such  a  thing  would  be  against 
his  very  nature.  The  benevolence  of  his  charac- 
ter is  a  perpetual  guarantee  that  He  will  leave 
none  of  his  intelligent  creatures  without  the  means 
of  salvation.  There  must  be,  therefore,  in  e very- 
nation  and  for  every  people  endowed  with  an  im- 
mortal nature,  some  form  of  religion  and  worship, 
and  some  truths  which,  if  religiously  obeyed,  will 
bind  the  creature  to  the  Creator,  and  save  him 
from  sinking  into  the  realms  of  darkness.  And  a 
complete  history  of  the  various  religions  on  earth, 
or  a  full  account  of  their  doctrinal  teachings,  would 
show  that  such  is  actually  the  case ;  for  some  vi- 
tal truths — some  simple  precepts  inculcating  a  life 
of  charity — would  be  found  interwoven  among 
them  all.  And  obedience  to  these  truths  must, 
therefore,  develop  some  degree  of  heavenly  life  in 
the  receiver,  and  consequently  save  him  in  that 
degree. 

Now,  what  has  been  revealed  through  Sweden- 
borg  concerning  the  Heathen  in  the  other  world  ? 
This  will  tell  what  the  Ne\v  Church  believes  and 
teaches  on  this  subject.  The  following  brief  ex- 
tracts will  show  what  he  teaches,  and  what  the 
New  Church,  therefore,  believes  respecting  the 
salvation  of  the  heathen : 

"  It  is  a  common  opinion  that  those  born  out 
of  the  church,  who  are  called  Heathen  or  Gen- 
tiles, cannot  be  saved,  because  they  have  not  the 


244    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

Word,  and  are  therefore  ignorant  of  the  Lord, 
without  whom  there  can  be  no  salvation.  Never- 
theless it  may  be  known,  from  these  considera- 
tions alone,  that  they  also  are  saved:  That  the 
mercy  of  the  Lord  is  universal,  that  is,  extended 
towards  every  individual ;  that  they  are  born  men 
as  well  as  those  within  the  church,  who  are  com- 
paratively few ;  and  that  it  is  no  fault  of  theirs 
that  they  are  ignorant  of  the  Lord. 

"  Every  person  who  thinks  from  enlightened 
reason,  may  see  that  no  man  is  born  for  hell ;  for 
the  Lord  is  love  itself,  and  it  is  agreeable  to  his 
love  that  all  be  saved.  Therefore  also  He  has 
provided  that  all  shall  have  some  kind  of  religion, 
and  thereby  be  in  the  acknowledgment  of  a  Di- 
vine, and  in  the  enjoyment  of  interior  life." 

"That  Gentiles  are  saved  as  well  as  Christians, 
may  be  known  to  those  who  understand  what  it 
is  that  makes  heaven  in  man.  For  heaven  is  in 
man ;  and  those  who  have  heaven  in  themselves 
enter  heaven  after  death."    (H.  H.  318,  319.) 

"  It  is  provided  by  the  Lord  that  those  whom 
the  Gospel  cannot  reach,  but  yet  some  religion, 
may  likewise  have  a  place  in  heaven,  .  .  .  and 
that  they  may  live  in  heavenly  joy  as  well  as 
others.  It  matters  not  whether  a  person  be  in 
such  joy  as  is  experienced  by  the  angels  of  the 
highest  or  the  lowest  heaven,  since  every  one  who 
is  received  into  heaven,  enters  into  the  supreme 
or  full  joy  of  his  heart."    (D.  P.  254.) 

How  are  the  Denizens  of  Heaven  Occupied  f 

The  apostle  to  the  Hebrews  speaks  of  a  rest 
that  "  remaineth  to  the  people  of  God,"  and  of  the 


Concerning  Heaven,  245 


righteous  "  entering  into  his  rest "  (iv,  9, 10).  And 
it  is  said  in  the  Revelation  that  'Hhe  dead  who 
die  in  the  Lord,"  are  blessed,"  and  that  they 
"rest  from  their  labors"  (xiv.  13).  Putting  a 
merely  sensuous  interpretation  upon  passages  like 
these,  Christians  have  concluded  that  in  heaven 
there  will  be  a  total  cessation  from  every  kind  of 
work,  and  that  the  "rest"  of  which  the  Bible 
speaks,  is  the  rest  of  inaction ;  consequently  that 
the  life  of  the  saints  in  heaven  will  be  an  eternal 
Sabbath,  somew^hat  after  the  Jewish  or  Puritan 
type. 

Contrary  to  this,  the  writings  of  the  New 
Church  teach  that  there  are  innumerable  employ- 
ments in  heaven — so  many,  indeed,  that  "those 
on  earth  are  comparatively  few."  But  they  are 
all  spiritual  employments,  that  is,  employments 
having  regard  to  the  spiritual  protection,  guid- 
ance, progress  and  edification  of  human  beings,  in 
both  worlds.  Every  one  is  there  engaged  in  the 
particular  work  which  he  loves,  and  which  his 
special  gifts  qualify  him  to  do  best ;  and  he  works 
at  it,  not  unwillingly  nor  from  a  selfish  love  of 
honor  or  gain,  but  from  love  of  and  delight  in  the 
use;  and  "when  use  is  spoken  of,  the  Lord  also 
is  meant,  because  use  is  good,  and  good  is  from 
the  Lord."    Swedenborg  says: 

"  All  in  heaven  are  in  the  delight  of  their  occu- 
pation, and  labor  from  the  love  of  use,  and  no  one 
21  * 


246    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


from  the  love  of  self  or  gain.  Nor  is  any  one 
influenced  by  the  love  of  gain  for  the  sake  of 
maintenance,  because  all  the  necessaries  of  life  are 
given  them  gratis; — their  habitations,  garments 
and  food."    (H.  H.  393.) 

Thus  the  heaven  which  Swedenborg  tells  us  of, 
is  altogether  a  human  heaven ;  involving  the  ex- 
istence, therefore,  of  all  kinds  of  affairs  properly 
human — ecclesiastical,  civil,  social  and  domestic — 
and  their  necessary  administration.  Ecclesiastical 
affairs  there,  are  in  charge  of  those  "  who,  when 
in  the  world,  loved  the  Word  and  earnestly 
searched  for  the  truth  it  contains,"  not  for  the  sake 
of  honor  or  gain,  but  for  the  improvement  of  their 
own  and  others'  lives ;  and  these  are  "  in  the  light 
of  wisdom  according  to  their  love  of  use,  for  they 
come  into  that  light  there  from  the  Word."  And 
their  civil  affairs  are  administered  by  those  "  who, 
while  in  the  world,  loved  their  country  and  its 
general  good  in  preference  to  their  own,  and  did 
what  is  just  and  right  from  a  love  of  justice  and 
rectitude,"  that  is,  from  a  love  of  use,  and  not 
from  the  love  of  honor  or  greed  of  gain. 

Now,  what  can  be  more  reasonable  than  this  ? 
We  were  evidently  created  to  be  forms  of  use  in 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  we  can  fulfill  the  pur- 
pose of  our  creation,  only  by  the  active  exercise  of 
our  God-given  faculties  in  the  doing  of  something 
useful.    A  life  devoted  exclusively  to  oral  prayer 


Concerning  Heaven, 


247 


and  psalm-singing,  would  be  an  utterly  useless  life ; 
and  if  any  one  imagines  it  might  be  a  happy  life, 
let  him  try  the  experiment  for  a  single  week,  and 
he  will  be  convinced  of  his  mistake.  And  if  such 
a  life  on  earth  would  be  neither  useful  nor  happy, 
why  should  it  be  in  heaven  ? 

No :  the  highest  happiness  here  is  realized  by 
those  who  devote  themselves  most  faithfully  and 
unselfishly  to  the  performance  of  the  highest  uses 
of  which  they  are  capable.  And  if  such  be  the 
condition  of  happiness  on  earth,  then  why  not  also 
in  heaven  ? 

It  is  into  such  faithful,  active,  use-loving  souls, 
that  the  Divine  life  flows  most  freely ;  and  it  is 
the  influx  of  this  life  which  brings  heavenly  peace 
and  rest ; — not  the  rest  of  idleness  or  inaction,  but 
rest  from  all  the  harassing  doubts  and  torment- 
ing fears  and  turbulent  passions  and  corroding 
anxieties  and  worldly  cravings  which  make  the 
unregenerate  heart  "  like  the  troubled  sea,  whose 
waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt." 

The  Hapjnness  of  Heaven. 

Swedenborg  says  that  heavenly  joy  and  bliss, 
"  such  as  it  is  in  its  essence,"  is  indescribable, 
being  in  the  inmosts  of  the  angels,  and  thence 
diffusing  itself  throughout  their  whole  being. 

"  It  is  as  if  their  interiors  were  wide  open  and 
free  to  receive  delight  and  blessedness,  which  is, 


248    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 


distributed  to  every  single  fibre,  and  thus  through- 
out the  whole  frame.  The  perception  and  sensa- 
tion of  delight  and  blessedness  thence  resulting, 
surpass  all  description."    (H.  H.  409.) 

And  that  he  might  have  some  idea  of  the  de- 
lights of  heaven,  he  says  he  was  often  and  for  a 
long  time  permitted  to  have  a  living  experience 
of  them."    And  he  thus  relates  his  experience : 

"  I  perceived  that  the  joy  and  delight  came  as 
from  the  heart,  diffusing  themselves  very  gently 
through  all  the  inmost  fibres,  and  thence  into  the 
collections  of  fibres,  with  such  an  inmost  sense  of 
enjoyment  that  every  fibre  seemed  as  it  were 
nothing  but  joy  and  delight ;  and  thence  all  the 
perceptive  and  sensitive  faculties  seemed  in  like 
manner  alive  with  happiness.  The  joy  of  bodily 
pleasures  compared  with  those  joys,  is  as  coarse 
and  offensive  grime  compared  with  the  pure  and 
sweetest  aura.  And  I  observed  that  when  I  wished 
to  transfer  all  my  delight  to  another,  there  flowed 
in  a  more  interior  and  abundant  delight  in  place 
of  the  former.  And  the  more  intensely  I  desired 
to  do  this,  the  more  abundant  was  the  influx  of 
that  delight ;  and  this  I  perceived  to  be  from  the 
Lord."    (H.  H.  413.) 

All  of  which  agrees  with  and  confirms  the  teach- 
ing of  Paul  in  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians.* 

*Fora  full  and  detailed  exposition  of  the  New  Church  teach- 
ings on  the  subject  treated  in  this  chapter,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
Vol.  II.  of  the  Swedenborg  Library,  which  treats  exclusively  of 
Heaven. 


Concerning  Hell. 


249 


XXXII. — Concerning  Hell. 

What  the  generally  accepted  doctrine  concern- 
ing hell  was,  at  the  time  Swedenborg  wrote  and 
for  many  years  thereafter,  is  well  known.  True, 
it  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible— but  of  the  Bible 
as  understood  by  those  who  "perceive  not  the 
things  of  the  spirit  of  God" — of  the  Bible  as  in- 
terpreted by  the  carnal  mind,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  gross  conceptions  of  the  natural  man, 
and  the  sensuous  philosophy  of  the  old  Age.  It 
was  a  literal  fire-and-brimstone  hell  which  the 
church  of  that  day  believed  in.  And  no  doubt 
this  was  the  doctrine  best  suited  to  the  external 
and  low  state  of  the  people  of  that  period. 

But  that  Age  is  consummated ;  and  doctrines 
well  enough  adapted  to  its  condition  and  needs, 
being  in  complete  correspondence  with  its  sensu- 
ous character,  are  by  no  means  suited  to  this  new 
and  more  enlightened  Age.  The  old  doctrine  of 
a  literal  fire-and-brimstone  hell,  into  which  sinners 
were  supposed  to  be  cast  by  an  angry  God,  there 
to  writhe  in  endless  agony,  would  not  now  be  list- 
ened to  by  any  intelligent  congregation  in  Chris- 
tendom. Consequently  the  old  doctrine  is  rarely 
heard  from  the  pulpit  of  to-day,  or  encountered 
in  our  current  religious  literature.  Thoughtful 
people  must  have  a  different  doctrine  on  this  sub- 
ject, to  satisfy  the  demands  of  their  reason,  or — 


250    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

no  doctrine  of  hell  at  all ;  and  not  a  few  are  com- 
ing to  accept  the  latter  alternative.  And  as  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel  generally  have  no  distinct 
idea  as  to  what  hell  really  is,  nor  feel  able  to  in- 
terpret with  accuracy  the  texts  of  Scripture  which 
speak  of  it,  therefore  they  prudently  refrain  from 
saying  anything  about  it;  or  if  they  touch  the 
subject  at  all,  it  is  very  lightly,  and  in  a  general 
way,  as  if  it  were  something  they  know  but  lit- 
tle about,  and  therefore  do  not  care  to  meddle 
with.  Yery  different  this,  from  the  custom  of  the 
clergy  a  century  ago,  when  hell  formed  the  chief 
staple  of  so  many  pulpit  discourses. 

The  New  Doctrine. 

In  view,  then,  of  the  doctrine  held  and  taught 
a  hundred  years  ago,  it  is  clear  that  a  further  rev- 
elation on  this  subject  was  needed,  a^^d  was  there- 
fore to  have  been  expected;  since  God  in  his  mer- 
ciful providence,  is  always  sure  to  give  the  things 
which  his  children  really  need,  as  soon  as  they 
are  in  a  state  to  receive  and  profit  by  them. 

And  what  is  the  doctrine  on  this  subject  as 
revealed  for  the  New  Church  ?  It  should  be 
rational  and  spiritual  as  well  as  Scriptural,  else  it 
would  not  meet  the  demands  of  this  New  Age. 

According  to  Swedenborg,  hell  (like  heaven)  is 
essentially  a  state  of  life.  As  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  spiritual — within  the  soul  (Luke  xvii. 


Concerning  Hell. 


251 


V  21) — so  likewise  is  the  kingdom  of  hell.  It  is  a 
state  in  all  respects  the  opposite  of  heaven — as 
opposite  as  night  is  to  day,  darkness  to  light,  ha- 
tred to  love,  sin  to  holiness.  Even  the  literal 
sense  of  the  words  heaven  and  hell,  in  the  origi- 
nal languages  of  the  Bible,  is  proof  of  this, — the 
former  meaning  a  high  and  light,  and  the  latter  a 
low  and  dark,  place.  And  as  place  corresponds  to 
state,  these  terms,  interpreted  bv  the  revealed  law 
of  correspondence,  denote  opposite  states  of  life, 
— the  one  elevated,  luminous  and  pure,  the  other 
low,  dark  and  degraded.  As  love  of  the  Lord 
and  the  neighbor  is  the  essential  constituent  of 
heaven,  so  the  love  of  self  and  the  world  is  the 
essential  constituent  of  hell.  This  latter  love  is 
what  is  meant  by  the  fire  of  hell  spoken  of  in 
Scripture,  for  such  love  is  what  this  fire  corre- 
sponds to.  As  the  Lord  (or  his  unselfish  love) 
reigns  and  rules  in  heaven,  so  the  love  of  self, 
which  is  the  fountain  and  father  of  all  other  evil 
loves,  is  the  ruling  principle  in  hell.  As  the  an- 
gels love  and  worship  the  Lord  alone,  so  the  dev- 
ils love  and  worship  none  but  themselves.  As 
heaven  is  the  abode  of  light,  love,  joy,  and  the 
serenest  peace,  so  hell  is  the  abode  of  falsity,  ha- 
tred, gloom,  and  perpetual  strife. 

Thus  the  character  of  the  devils  is  altogether 
opposite  to  that  of  the  angels.  The  former  are 
Inverted,  while  the  latter  are  true,  images  of  the 


252    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church. 

Lord.  The  faces  of  the  devils,  too,  are  hideous 
as  those  of  the  angels  are  beautiful — each  being 
in  perfect  correspondence  with  their  ruling  loves. 
Yet  such  is  the  abounding  mercy  of  the  Lord, 
that  the  devils  as  seen  in  their  own  light,  do  not 
appear  hideous  to  •themselves  or  to  each  other,  but 
only  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  heaven.  So  is 
it  with  thieves,  robbers,  pirates,  pimps — all  de- 
mons in  the  flesh :  they  do  not  appear  to  them- 
selves or  to  each  other  as  the  morally  deformed 
creatures  that  they  are. 

And  precisely  the  same  law  that  governs  the 
phenomenal  world  in  heaven,  governs  that  in  hell 
also — the  great  and  eternal  law  of  correspondence. 
Under  the  operation  of  this  law,  the  surroundings 
of  the  devils  are  necessarily  barren  and  dismal — 
and  most  offensive  to  the  eyes  of  angels.  They 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  desert  places,  rocky  and 
dreary  wastes,  stagnant  marshes,  in  the  meanest 
hovels  and  with  the  filthiest  surroundings,  and 
inhale  the  vilest  stenches.  But  these  things  are 
not  offensive  to  the  devils  any  more  than  carrion 
is  to  crows,  or  mire  to  certain  animals  that  love 
to  wallow  in  it ;  for  they  agree  with  their  nature, 
being  in  perfect  correspondence  with  their  vile 
and  filthy  loves. 

The  same  law,  too,  that  determines  the  angels 
into  innumerable  societies,  is  alike  operative  in 
hell ;  that  is,  the  law  of  spiritual  afiQnity.  For 


Concerning  Hell. 


253 


there  are  endless  kinds  and  degrees  of  evil  as  there 
are  of  good,  and  numberless  societies  therefore  in 
hell ;  and  the  devils  go  (as  do  the  angels)  in  per- 
fect freedom  into  the  society  of  those  most  nearly 
like  themselves  ;  for  there  they  are  most  at  home, 
and  there  they  prefer  to  be.  If  they  were  con- 
veyed to  heaven,  having  in  themselves  none  of 
the  loves  or  life  of  heaven,  their  torment  would 
be  excruciating ;  they  could  not  breathe  that  pure 
atmosphere,  and  they  would  writhe  there  like  ser- 
pents on  coals  of  fire. 

There  is  government  also  in  hell ;  but  it  is  a 
government  of  force  and  fear,  for  no  other  is 
adapted  to  beings  who  are  supremely  selfish.  It 
is  only  through  fear  of  punishment  that  their 
evil  passions  can  be  restrained.  And  by  means 
of  punishment  the  external  order  of  the  hells,  if 
not  their  internal  quality,  is  being  continually  im- 
proved.   Swedenborg  says : 

"  The  Lord  never  sends  any  one  into  hell, 'but 
desires  to  bring  all  out  of  hell:  still  less  does  He 
inflict  torment.  But  as  the  evil  spirit  himself 
rushes  into  it,  the  Lord  turns  all  punishment  and 
torment  to  some  good  account.  There  would  be 
no  such  thing  as  punishment  if  use  were  not  the 
end  aimed  at  by  the  Lord;  for  his  kingdom  is  a 
kingdom  of  ends  and  uses."    (A.  C.  696.) 

"  Every  one's  life  follows  him  after  death,  and 
he  remains  in  the  state  which  he  had  procured  to 
himself  by  the  whole  course  of  his  life  in  the 
22 


254    The  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church, 

world.  Then  he  who  is  in  evil,  is  no  longer  capa- 
ble of  .  .  being  amended  interiorly,  but  only  as 
to  his  exteriors,  and  this  through  fear  of  punish- 
ment, which,  being  often  repeated,  compels  the 
spirit  at  last  to  abstain  from  evil,  which  he  does, 
not  from  freedom  but  by  compulsion — the  lust  of 
doing  evil  still  remaining.  This  lust  is  held  in 
check  by  fears,  which  are  the  external  and  com- 
pulsive means  of  amendment.  Such  is  the  state 
of  the  wicked  in  another  life."    (A.  C.  6917.)* 

XXXIII. — Connection  of  the  Two  Worlds. 

There  are  many  passages  in  the  Bible  which 
point  to  the  close  connection  of  the  spiritual  with 
the  natural  world ;  and  Swedenborg  often  speaks 
of  this  connection, — of  the  intimate  association  of 
both  good  and  evil  spirits  with  men,  and  their  in- 
fluence upon  them.  As  to  our  spirits,  he  says, we 
are  actually  in  the  spiritual  world  now  and  always, 
though  all  unconscious  of  the  fact.  Invisible  com- 
panions are  constantly  associated  with  us,  and  pow- 
erfully operate  upon  our  thoughts  and  feelings, 
our  ends  and  aims,  influencing  us  for  good  or  for 
evil  according  to  our  own  internal  leanings,  that 
is,  according  to  our  willingness  to  yield  to  the 
whispers  of  the  Spirit  and  the  promptings  of  un- 


*Fora  more  extended  treatment  of  this  subject,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  author's  "  New  View  of  Hell :  Its  Nature,  Where- 
abouts, Duration,  '  etc. 


Connection  of^  the  Two  Worlds,  255 


selfish  love,  or  to  the  suggestions  of  selfishness 
or  worldly  greed.  Every  soul  on  earth  is  in  near 
relation  with  other  souls,  most  of  whom  have  laid 
aside  their  fleshly  covering,  and  are  no  longer 
visible  to  the  eye  of  sense ;  for  the  natural  eye 
can  see  only  the  objects  which  belong  to  the  realm 
of  nature. 

But  we  may  know  the  character  of  our  invisible 
associates,  by  carefully  attending  to  the  motives 
which  we  allow  to  govern  us  in  our  ordinary  daily 
intercourse  with  others — to  our  ruling  purpose, 
our  ends  and  aims  in  life.  If  these  are  selfish, 
base,  and  grovelling, 'such  is  the  character  of  our 
associate  spirits ;  but  if  unselfish  and  righteous, 
so  are  our  invisible  companions ; — we  walk  in 
company  with  angels  and  inhale  their  inspiring 
breath,  while  we  tabernacle  in  the  flesh. 

"  Angels  and  spirits  are  continually  associated 
with  man — angels  from  heaven  and  spirits  from 
hell.  .  .  He  cannot  see  them  except  by  the  eye  of 
his  internal  man  which,  for  several  reasons,  is  not 
opened  in  him  during  his  abode  in  the  world." 
(A.  C.  5848,  '9.) 

"  The  character  of  the  spirits  associated  with  a 
man,  is  according  to  the  man's  own  character.  If 
he  is  covetous,  the  spirits  are  covetous  ;  if  haughty, 
the  spirits  arc  haughty  ;  if  desirous  of  revenge,  so 
are  the  spirits  ;  if  deceitful,  the  spirits  are  of  like 
character.  An  [evii]  man  attaches  to  himself 
spirits  from  hell  according  to  his  life."  (A.  C. 
5851.) 


256    The  Doctrines  of  the  ^eic  Church. 


The  angels  flow  into  the  ends  which  a  man 
regards,  and  so,  through  the  ends,  into  the  things 
which  follow  from  them.  This  influx  is  tacit  and 
imperceptible  to  men,  but  still  operative  in  a  hid- 
den manner,  and  effective  principally  in  turning 
from  evil  ends  and  insinuating  good  ones ;  .  .  .  for 
the  angels  cannot  be  present  in  evil  ends,  that  is, 
in  the  loves  of  self  and  the  world,  except  re- 
motely."   (A.  C.  n.  5854.) 

"Man  regards  as  an  end  what  belongs  to  his 
life  or  love.  When  the  good  of  his  neighbor,  the 
general  good,  the  good  of  the  church  and  of  the 
Lord's  kingdom,  is  the  end  regarded,  then  man, 
as  to  his  soul,  is  in  the  Lord's  kingdom ;  for  his 
kingdom  is  none  other  than  a  kingdom  of  ends 
and  uses  respecting  the  good  of  the  human  race. 
The  angels  attendant  on  man,  have  their  abode 
solely  in  his  ends  of  life.  So  far  as  a  man  has 
respect  to  an  end  of  the  same  kind  that  influences 
the  Lord's  kingdom,  the  angels  are  delighted  with 
him,  and  join  themselves  to  him  as  a  brother  ;  but 
so  far  as  he  is  influenced  by  selfish  ends,  the  angels 
recede,  and  evil  spirits  from  hell  draw  near — for 
only  selfish  ends  rule  in  hell.  Hence  we  may  see 
the  importance  of  searching  and  knowing  the  ori- 
gin of  our  afi'ections,  which  can  only  be  known 
from  the  end  at  which  we  aim."  (A.  C.  3796.) 


"The  Swedenborg  Library." 

Complete  in  12  volumes,  averaging  250  pages  each ;  consisting 
of  choice  selections  from  the  writings  of  Swedenborg  topically 
arranged,  with  a  full  Table  of  Contents.  The  great  Swede's  re- 
ligious and  ethical  teachings  are  here  presented  in  a  condensed, 
intelligible,  neat,  and  extremely  cheap  form ;  with  a  very  beauti- 
ful portrait  of  the  author  in  Vol.  XII.,  which  contains  320  pages. 
The  titles  of  the  several  volumes  are : 

1.  Death,  Resurrection  and  the  Judgment. 

2.  Heaven. 

3.  Freedom,  Rationality  and  Catholicity. 

4.  Divine  Providence  and  its  Laws. 

5.  Charity,  Faith  and  Works. 

6.  Free-Will,  Repentance,  Reformation  and  Regeneration. 

7.  Holy  Scripture  and  the  Key  to  its  Spiritual  Sense. 

8.  Creation,  Incarnation,Redemption,  and  the  Divine  Trinity. 

9.  Marriage  and  the  Sexes  in  both  Worlds. 

10.  The  Author's  Memorabilia. 

11.  The  Heavenly  Doctrine  of  the  Lord. 

12.  Swedenborg ;  With  a  Compend  of  his  Teachings. 


SOIIE  OF  ITS  nECOyiMEXDATIONS, 

1st.  It  gives  the  substance  of  Swedenborg's  teachings  in  a  com- 
pact form,  and  in  his  own  words  (translated),  Avith  references  to 
the  works  whence  the  extracts  are  taken. 

2d.  It  classifies  the  subjects  so  as  to  make  it  easy  for  the  reader 
to  find  whatever  spiritual  instruction  he  may  be  seeking. 

3d.  It  does  not  interfere  with  but  helps  all  other  enterprises 
which  aim  to  disseminate  the  highest  truths,  and  to  promote  the 
upbuilding  of  the  true  Church  on  earth. 

4:th.  The  volumes  are  of  such  a  convenient  size,  that  one  of 
them  may  be  easily  carried  in  the  coat-pocket. 

5th.  Any  volume  of  the  series  makes  a  beautiful  gift-book  to 
a  friend,  or  to  any  seeker  after  the  highest  truths. 

6th.  Each  volume  being  complete  in  itself,  maj'  be  purchased 
separately  when  so  desired. 

7th.  The  work  is  gotten  up  in  a  very  tasteful  stj'le,  and  the 
series  makes  a  beautiful  and  valuable  addition  to  any  library. 

8th.  Last,  but  not  least,  of  its  recommendations,  is  its  cheap- 
ness,—heing  about  half  the  usual  price  of  similar  works. 

Price  50  cents  a  volume  (extra  cloth) ;  and  $8.00  the  set, 
elegantly  bound  in  6  volumes  (2  vols,  in  one),  in  half  Turkey  mo- 
rocco—titles on  the  backs  in  gilt  letters. 

A  liberal  discount  to  ministers  and  theological  students. 

Address    Swedenborg  Publishing^  Association, 

930  Market  St.,  Philadelphia, 


Or,  B.  F.  BARRETT,  Germaotown,  Pa- 
1 


WHAT  GOOD  JUDGES  THINK  OF  IT. 


The  following  extracts  are  from  letters  received 
by  the  Editor  from  seventeen  intelligent  K ew  Church 
ministers : 

"The  SwEDENBORG  LIBRARY  plan  excites  the  universal  ad- 
miration of  those  whose  attention  I  have  called  to  it." 

"  Exactly  what  it  ought  to  be,  beautiful,  attractive,  and  not 
too  larg-e.  Such  books  are  read.  I  regard  this  enterprise  as  the 
best  5-et  started  to  promulgate  the  heavenly  doctrines." 

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"I  think  the  idea  is  a  very  happy  one :  I  have  shown  the  book 
to  several  of  our  people,  and  all  give  it  unqualified  praise." 

"I  like  the  project  very  much.  .  .  .  Sure  you  will  be  gratified 
with  the  reception  which  the  Swebexborg  Library  will  meet." 

"  Splendid !  Just  the  thing  that  is  needed  by  a  large  class  of 
readers  even  in  our  so-called  New  Church  Societies." 

"  You  are  doing  just  now,  in  my  estimation,  the  greatest  work 
of  your  life ;  and  my  heart's  wish  is  that  every  member  of  the 
Church  may  encourage  you  in  it." 

"I  have  received  and  read  several  volumes  of  the  Swedex- 
BORG  Library  with  great  interest,  because  I  found  in  them 
the  best  missionary  books  that  I  have  ever  read." 

"Just  the  thing  for  our  [missionary]  work.  .  .  I  like  it  very 
much,  and  believe  you  are  doing  a  good  ser\^ce." 

"The  SwEDEXBORG  LIBRARY  Supplies  the  want  I  have  felt 
for  some  time,  and  proves  very  acceptable  and  convincing  read- 
ing to  beginners." 

"The  volumes  are  convenient  for  family  and  social  reading, 
and  form  admirable  text-books  for  adult  classes,  and  elder 
classes  in  Sabbath-schools." 

"  I  think  you  are  engaged  in  a  noble  work  in  bringing  out  the 
substance  of  Swedenborg's  teachings  in  such  an  attractive  and 
Inexpensive  form  as  the  Swedenborg  Library." 

"The  publication  of  the  Swedenborg  Library  meets  my 
heartiest  approval.  It  was  a  well-conceived  idea,  and  has  been 
carried  out  in  great  good  taste." 

"  This  series  of  New  Church  works  has,  in  my  judgment,  no 
equal  for  giving  to  the  masses  the  grand  truths  of  the  New 
Age." 

"  The  little  books  are  delightful.  Volume  12  is  a  perfect  treas- 
ure, and  must  meet  a  very  general  want." 

"  I  find  the  Swedendorg  Library  every  way  satisfactory.  I 
deem  it  among  the  very  best  works  of  the  Church." 

"I  am  more  and  more  delighted  with  what  I  see  of  the 
Swedenborg  Library.   Volume  13  seems  to  me  one  of  the 
very  best  things  we  have  in  the  literature  of  the  Church." 
2 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS. 


"The  SwEDENBORG  LIBRARY  is  the  best  adapted  to  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  Swedenborg's  voluminous  system  within  the 
scope  of  popuhir  comprehension,  of  any  work  that  has  come  to 
our  notice."— Philadelphia  Inquirer. 

"It  is  one  of  the  most  useful  works  which  has  lately  shown 
itself  in  the  Church.  For  this  reason  we  recommend  it  with  our 
whole  heart.  .  .  .  The  choice  of  extracts  is  exquisite,  admirable, 
and  of  the  greatest  importance  and  use  even  to  well-instructed 
members  of  the  New  Church."— Bote  der  Neuen  Kirche  (Rev.  O. 
A.  Brickman,  Editor). 

"  The  work  is  interesting  to  churchmen,  and  all  who  desire  to  be 
well  informed  on  the  religions  of  the  ^a.y. "—Kokomo  Dispatch. 

"Managers  of  New-Church  libraries  will  find  the  volumes  of 
this  series  especially  useful  to  persons  just  becoming  interested." 

—New  Jerusalem  Magazine. 

"  We  can  heartily  commend  this  little  book  to  any  who  may 
desire  a  general  notion  of  the  theological  views  of  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  men  that  ever  lived." — Cincinnati  Times. 

"Swedenborg,  when  studied  for  the  sake  of  his  spirit  only, 
must  improve  in  the  esteem  of  all  good  men.  The  abridged 
edition  of  his  works  is  very  attractive  in  form,  and  is  full  enough 
to  convey  the  author's  meaning."— T/je  Christian  Union. 

"Mr.  Barrett  is  excellently  well  qualified  for  this  labor.  .  .  The 
New  Church  is  growing ;  and  this  popularization  of  its  creed  will 
be  of  value  to  some  and  interest  to  ah."— Pliila.  North  American. 

*'If  one  desires  a  succinct,  clear,  and  adequate  idea  of  the 
teachings  of  the  New  Chui-ch,  here  in  these  handsome  and  port- 
able volumes,  in  a  cheap  form,  he  can  obtain  it.". — Zion's  Herald. 

"  The  editor  has  done  a  real  service,  not  only  to  those  of  his 
own  special  faith,  but  for  thoughtful  Christians  in  all  denomina- 
tions. .  .  Such  selections  as  are  contained  in  this  neat  little  vol- 
ume, are  spiritually  edif  jing  and  abundantly  suggestive." 

—Chicago  Advance. 

"  Life  is  too  short  for  us  to  read  Swedenborg  in  extenso ;  .  .  . 
But  gleaned  from  the  wide  expanse  of  the  Swedenborg  litera- 
ture by  a  man  of  rare  talent  for  his  work,  the  teachings  of  this 
author  appear  to  their  best  advantage  in  this  edition." 

—Minneapolis  Tribune. 

"We  think  this  [Vol.  VI.]  an  excellent  continuation  of  an  ex- 
cellent series  of  New  Church  publications." 

—Neiv  Jerusalem  Messenger. 

"  An  excellent  condensation  of  the  pith  and  substance  of  Swe- 
denborg's teachings  and  revelations.  Whoever  desii-es  to  know 
the  fundamental  views  of  his  church,  will  find  them  here." 

—Zion's-Herald. 

"The  series  is  every  way  admirable,  and  cannot  fail  to  be 
welcomed  by  the  religiously  inclined  of  other  denominations, 
as  well  as  by  the  immediate  followers  of  the  doctrines  taught  by 
the  Swedish  philosopher."— C?itcago  Journal. 

3 


"THE  SWEDEXBORG  LIBRARY." 


OPINION  OF  THE  NEW-CHURCH  REVIEW. 

The  following  is  copied  from  the  July  (1882)  number 
of  the  Xetv-Cfiiit'ch  JReview,  and  is  from  the  pen  of  a 
competent  critic,  and  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
scholarly  ministers  in  the  New  Church. 

"Of  the  'Swedenborg  Librar}^'  as  edited  b}' Mr. 
Barrett,  and  published  in  the  neat,  elegant  and  at- 
tractive little  quartos,  we  niaj'  justh*  say  that  it  will 
be  hard  to  find  any  other  printed  matter  in  the  world, 
which  will  so  worthih'  occup}'  an  equal  twelve  inches 
of  shelf-room.  This  little  Library  is  a  specialty,  in- 
deed. It  is  devoted  to  one  and  only  one  theological 
S3'stem,  but  that  a  verj^  cathohc  and  comprehensive 
one  ;  so  that  there  is  hardly  a  principle  in  science  or 
philosophy,  a  question  of  morals,  or  of  life,  or  of  death, 
or  of  the  here,  or  of  the  hereafter,  that  is  not  eluci- 
dated in  it.  But  it  is  analytic  also,  and  so  thoroughly 
and  admirably  so.  that  we  find  here  its  peculiar  value, 
not  only  to  the  world  at  large  but  to  the  Xew  Church- 
man himself,  to  whom  the  theology  here  presented  is 
alread}'  tolerably  familiar. 

"In calling  attention  to  the  Swedexborg  Library 
in  these  pages,  we  have  not  in  view  so  much  to  adver- 
tise the  work,  already  far  more  widely  known  than  is 
the  Keview,  as  to  dwell  upon  certain  features  which 
commend  the  books,  especially  to  the  familiar  and  con- 
stant use  of  the  Xew  Church,  especially  in  the  famil}^ 
and  in  the  instruction  of  youth. 

"AVe  need  say  but  little  about  the  advantages  the 
Library  offers  to  the  world  at  large.  The  handy  and 
inexpensive,  yet  thoroughly  tasteful  little  volumes, 
speak  for  themselves,  and  are  sure  to  find  a  welcome 
entr}'  into  thousands  of  homes  and  libraries  where  the 
more  sombre  and  stately  volumes  of  the  complete 
4 


"THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY.' 


editions  of  the  author,  or  the  more  elaborate  and  pon- 
derous single  treatises,  would  be  politely  declined  ad- 
mission. The  advertising  circular  calls  attention  to 
some  of  the  '  distinguishing  merits  and  obvious  advan- 
tages of  this  series,'  enumerating  among  these  its 
cheapness,  its  convenient  size,  its  attractiveness,  its 
compactness  and  brevity  of  statement,  and  the  aid  it 
affords  to  the  reader  in  its  classification  of  subjects.  It 
is  especially  the  last-named  feature  which  commends 
the  work,  in  our  judgment,  and  which  puts  the  jS'ew 
Church,  as  well  as  the  general  reading  public,  under 
special  obligation  to  the  painstaking  editor  of  this 
series. 

^'  The  diffuseness  of  Swedenborg's  sC^^e  has  been 
the  general  complaint  urged  by  most  novitiate  readers, 
and  the  very  vastness  of  the  field  his  writings  cover, 
makes  the  investigation  of  them  seem  at  first  an  almost 
hopeless  task.  Just  where  to  turn  for  enlightenment 
on  this  or  that  special  topic,  has  not  been  always  at 
the  command  of  well-read  New  Churchmen,  without 
the  aid  of  the  somewhat  rare  indexes  ;  and  then  no 
little  time  is  consumed  in  searching  for  passages,  in 
half  a  dozen  volumes  it  may  be. 

"Now  we  would  not  think  for  a  moment  of  recom- 
mending this  analysis  of  the  writings  by  Mr.  Barrett 
as  a  substitute  for  any  student  to  adopt  in  any  thor- 
ough or  fundamental  investigation  of  any  topic.  The 
editor  never  intended  them  for  this  use.  He  refers 
his  readers  to  the  complete  works  of  Swedenborg  for 
the  thorough  and  final  study  of  any  of  these  subjects. 
But  we  are  free  to  say  that  for  a  ready  reference  and 
a  convenient  summary  of  what  Swedenborg  has  said 
on  any  of  the  themes  here  mentioned,  we  do  not  know 
where  to  look  for  a  more  valuable  work  than  this. 
Moreover,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  in  the 
study  of  any  subject  there  should  be  an  order  and 
5 


"THE  SWEDEXBORG  LIBRARY.' 


a  progressive  classification  of  truths,  as  well  as  an 
analysis.  And  here  is  where  we  have  found  much 
to  admire  in  these  little  books. 

"With  the  helpfulness  of  this  orderly  arrangement 
of  the  contents,  we  have  been  especially  impressed 
in  Yol.  I.,  on  'Death,  Resurrection  and  the  Judg- 
ment,' and  in  Yol.  VIII.,  on  'Creation,  Incarnation, 
Redemption  and  the  Trinity.'  Any  one  can  see  at  a 
glance  that  this  is  the  natural  order  of  these  topics 
when  considered  together,  and  the  plan  of  the  respec- 
tive volumes  is  arranged  accordingly.  But  few  have 
thought,  perhaps,  what  a  complete  whole  each  of  these 
groups  makes  when  thus  considered  together,  and 
what  a  clearly  defined  and  lasting  impress  a  careful 
study  of  such  a  treatise  must  leave  in  any  thinking 
mind.  .  .  . 

"Take  this  little  book  on  Death,  etc.,  Yol.  I.  Here 
a  man  is  literally  introduced  into  the  spiritual  world 
at  the  threshold.  He  is  led  upward  through  the  proc- 
ess of  phj'sical  dying,  having  first  been  described  in 
his  real  being,  that  is,  as  consisting  of  a  spiritual  and 
immortal  body,  clothed  on  earth  with  a  temporary 
material  one.  Arriving  in  the  spiritual  world  he  is 
shown  what  manner  of  life  the  spiritual  body  leads  ; 
then  he  is  led  through  the  several  stages  of  the  resur- 
rection, or  the  development  of  the  real  man  out  of 
all  the  outside  concealments  which  in  some  measure 
attend  him  even  into  the  world  of  spirits,  until  at 
length  he  is  brought  to  that  knowledge  of  his  real, 
abiding,  unchangeable  character  or  fitness  for  heaven 
or  hell,  Avhich  constitutes  the  judgment.  Then  is 
briefly  described  the  quality  of  the  life  in  heaven  and 
in  hell,  and  some  practical  guides  for  us  all  as  to  '  the 
way  that  leads  to  heaven,'  while  we  are  still  under- 
going the  discipUne  of  earth.  The  little  book  is  a 
wonderful  mariner's  chart  for  a  world  that  reaches 
6 


"THE  SWEDENBORG  LIBRARY." 

out  into  eternity.  It  will  suffice  for  all  the  funeral  dis- 
courses that  ever  need  be  uttered,  so  far  as  instruc- 
tion goes ;  and  it  tells  a  man  more  of  what  he  is  made 
of,  than  all  the  volumes  of  ancient  or  modern  philos- 
ophy put  together.  And  yet  this  is  but  one  of  these 
little  treatises. 

"  In  Yol.  YIII.  the  arrangement  is  indeed  drawn 
from  the  author's  True  Christian  Religion;  but  the 
subject  of  creation  is  wonderfully  elucidated  by  the 
citations  from  the  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom.  No  sys- 
tem of  pure  philosophy  could  present  a  more  orderly 
or  logical  sequence  than  is  here  observed,  in  starting 
out  first  with  God  as  the  sole  Creative  Substayice,  then 
discussing  the  materials,  the  form  and  process  of  crea- 
tion by  the  method  of  discrete  degrees,  then  the  ends 
or  uses  of  creation,  then  the  completed  creation  or 
universe,  as  an  image  of  the  infinite  ;  then  the  influx 
of  spirit  into  nature,  or  the  relation  of  matter  to  life 
and  of  the  natural  to  the  spiritual  world.  From  this 
primary  discussion  the  book  proceeds  to  the  descent 
of  Jehovah  God  into  the  created  world  or  into  nature 
as  man,  for  the  purpose  of  the  redemption  and  salva- 
tion of  the  human  race.  This  embraces  the  discussion 
of  the  Incarnation,  of  the  union  of  Humanity  with 
Divinity  in  the  Lord  ;  also  the  wars  with  the  power 
of  evil,  or  the  'conflict  with  the  hells,'  by  which  the 
Lord  succored  mankind  and  restored  the  race  to  spir- 
itual liberty  and  to  the  light  of  divine  truth ;  and 
finally,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  its  operation,  and  the 
divine  Trinity,  what  it  is  and  what  it  is  not ;  and  the 
Divine  Providence  as  directing  the  formulating  of  the 
Christian  creeds,  teaching  a  trinity  of  persons  with  a 
view  to  protecting  the  Christian  church  from  Arian- 
ism,  or  the  utter  rejection  of  the  Lord's  Divinity  until 
the  time  of  his  second  coming,  to  show  us  in  Himself, 
'plainly  of  the  Father;' — this  sublime  progress  of 
7 


"THE  STVEDENBORG  LIBRARY." 

truths  is  here  unfolded  to  the  reader  with  an  admi- 
rable order,  conciseness  and  simplicity  of  arrangement, 
which  makes  the  study  of  the  subject  an  attractive 
one,  and  leaves  a  most  satisfying  impression,  because 
clear  and  well  defined. 

"  AVe  might  instance  the  features  of  others  of  these 
volumes  which  have  especially  delighted  us ;  but  the 
chief  merit  in  all,  is  this  excellent  arrangement  by 
which  the  reader  finds  so  conveniently  at  hand  a  brief 
survey  of  the  most  interesting  truths  on  the  subject 
before  him.  For  purposes  of  religious  culture,  or  for 
devotional  reading  as  a  spiritual  exercise  most  health- 
ful for  every  Christian,  we  cannot  too  highly  commend 
the  volume  on  Free  Will^  Repentance^  Beforraation  and 
Regeneration,  as  a  most  practical  and  genuinely  useful 
guide  to  a  man's  everyday  thoughts  and  character. 

"  The  volume  on  Heaven,  far  from  being  a  mere  repe- 
tition of  Vol.  I.,  is  a  survey  of  the  regenerated  human 
life,  and  a  picture  of  a  perfect  society  with  its  uses  and 
its  delights  as  exhibited  in  the  actual  life  of  angels. 
It  is  as  beautiful  and  wonderful  as  any  Utopia  with 
the  advantage  of  being  very  real,  and  attainable  to 
all  who  will  accept  the  simple  rules  of  citizenship 
here  laid  down. 

"The  volume  on  'Holy  Scripture  and  the  Key  to 
its  spiritual  sense,'  contains  not  only  the  general  doc- 
trine of  the  internal  sense,  but  is  full  of  practical  and 
pointed  illustrations  of  the  doctrine  of  correspond- 
ences ;  concluding  with  some  'trials  of  the  key,'  and 
an  example  of  'its  power  to  unlock  Rev.  xxi.'  This 
very  plain  presentation  of  the  subject  cannot  but  im- 
press favorably  the  minds  of  the  young ;  and  we  do 
not  see  why  the  study  of  the  Word  by  this  means 
should  not  become  a  fascinating  as  well  as  edifying 
employment  for  youthful  minds,  provided  it  be  done 
reverently  and  in  a  religious  spirit." 

8 


The  Science  of  Correspondences 

The  Key  to  the  heavenly  and  true  Meaning 
of  the  Scriptures, 


Keady  November  1,  1883.  The  most  exhaustive  and 
complete  work  ever  published  on  this  subject,  and  one 
which  can  hardly  fail  to  arrest  the  growing  skepticism  in 
regard  to  the  Divine  authorship  of  the  Bible,  and  win 
for  this  Book  a  more  profound,  intelligent,  and  universal 
reverence.  No  sincere  seeker  after  spiritual  truth,  and 
especially  no  minister  or  theological  student,  should  be 
without  this  most  instructive  and  valuable  work. 

Part  I.  is  the  work  of  an  English  author  (Rev.  Ed- 
ward Madeley),  greatly  enlarged,  and  enriched  by  more 
than  400  interesting  and  valuable  notes  (illustrative  and 
confirmatory),  consisting  chiefly  of  extracts  from  some 
300  distinguished  authors,  from  Origen  and  Augustine 
down  to  the  present  time ;  besides  many  from  Jewish  and 
heathen  writers. 

Part  II.  contains  Goyder's  "  Key  of  Knowledge,"  Hind- 
marsh's  "Key  to  Numbers,  Weights,  and  Measures"  used 
in  Scripture,  also  his  "Key  to  Precious  Stones,"  and 
eleven  articles  by  different  New-Church  writers  in  further 
elucidation  of  the  general  subject ;  with  a  rich  and  valu- 
able Appendix,  and  a  complete  Index.  The  whole  making 
upwards  of  YOO  octavo  pages. 

It  is,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  most  important  collat- 
eral New- Church  works  ever  published. 

Price  $1.75  (cloth-bound),  post-paid;  or  two  copies  to 
one  address  for  $3.00.  Sent  to  ministers  and  theological 
students^  or  to  persons  intending  it  as  a  present  to  some 
one  of  this  class,  on  receipt  of  $1.25 — less  than  half  the 
average  publisher's  price.  A  copy  of  Contents,  Peeface, 
etc.,  sent  gratis  on  application  to 

The  Swedenborg  Publishing  Association, 

930  Market  Street,  Philadelpliia, 
or  B.  F.  Barrett,  Germantown,  Pa. 

1 


Press  Notices  of  First  Edition. 

"A  small,  but  remarkably  thoughtful  and  edlfyinpr  book,  by 
Rev.  L.  P.  Mercer.  We  have  examined  it  with  uncommon  inter- 
est. The  spirit  and  manner  and  style  of  the  author  are  admira- 
ble. .  .  .  The  fundamental  conception  running  through  this 
thoughtful  treatise,  is  one  of  the  utmost  interest  and  impor- 
tance. The  careful  perusal  of  it  will  do  any  candid  student  of 
God's  Word  lasting-  good."— C7jica{70  Advance  {Cong.). 

"As  interesting  a  publication  as  any  that  have  appeared  of 
late,  on  this  always  old  and  ever  new  subject."— Chicago  Times. 

"  This  book  is  worthy  of  taking  a  front  rank  among  the  col- 
lateral writings  of  the  New  Church.  It  is  the  most  clear  and 
forcible  and  comprehensive  popular  treatment  of  the  subject 
that  our  literature  aifords.  It  goes  over  the  whole  ground  of 
the  doctrine  of  Divine  Revelation,  not  exhaustively,  of  course, 
but  with  that  comprehensiveness  and  lucidity  of  statement 
which  make  brevity  a  virtue."— iV^.  J.  Messenger  (N.  Ch.). 

"  Mr.  Mercer's  book,  even  to  those  who  will  decline  to  accept 
its  teachings,  will  still  have  uncommon  value  and  interest.  It 
will  enable  the  reader  to  form  a  more  intelligent  idea  of  what 
Swedenborgianism  is,  than  the  vague  notion  most  people  have, 
and  prepare  for  that  more  sound  and  fair  judgment  of  it  which 
an  honest  mind  would  always  wish  to  frame  for  itself.  The  book 
is  remarkably  well  written,  and  presents  its  subjects  in  a  form 
exceedingly  in\'iting  to  the  reader."— C?iica^o  Standard  (Bap.). 


Netv-C/mrch  Popular  Series, 

No.  .  . 

1.  THE  WORLD  BEYOND.    By  John  Doughty.  182  pp. 

Price  30  cts.,  in  cloth. 

2.  THE  NEW-CHURCH  THEOLOGY.    By  Rev.  J.  H. 

Smithson.  230  pp.   Price  30  cts.,  in  cloth. 

3.  APH0RIS3IS  OE  THE  NEW  LIFE.    By  W.  H.  Hol- 

combe.  106  pp.,  with  a  beautiful  portrait  of  Swedenborg. 
Price  30  cts.,  in  cloth. 

4.  TRUE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  BIBLE.    By  Rev.  L. 

P.  Mercer.  185  pp.   Price  30  cts.,  in  cloth. 

These  are  the  first  four  of  a  new  series  of  works  lately  started, 
and  designed  to  meet  the  growing  popular  want.  They  present 
the  spirit,  doctrines,  and  philosophy  of  the  New  Church  in  a 
brief,  simple,  and  intelligible  form ;  are  neat  and  attractive  in 
appearance,  and  remarkahly  cheap.  Four  volumes,  to  one  ad- 
dress, for  $1.00  (post-paid). 

Address  Swedenborg  Publishing  Association, 

930  Market  St.,  Philadelphia. 


Mr.  BARRETT^S  WORKS. 


Lectures  on  the  New  Dispensation.  Extra  cloth,  pp.  328, 
12mo.    Price  60  cents. 

"  An  admirable  work  for  making  one  acquainted  with  the 
doctrines  of  the  New  Chnvch."— Intellectual  Rex)OSitory. 

The  New  Yiew  of  Hell.  Extra  cloth,  pp.  215,  12mo.  50 
cents. 

"  Contains  much  that  is  profoundly  true,  and  much  that  is 
exceedingly  suggestive."— JVeiu  Yorh  Independent. 

The  Golden  City.  Extra  cloth,  pp.  253,  12mo.  Price  60 
cents. 

"The  most  important  book  concerning  the  New  Church 
which  has  been  written  for  years." 

—Boston  New  Church  Magazine. 

Letters  to  Beecher  on  the  Future  Life.  Extra  cloth, 
pp.  191,  12mo.    Price  50  cents. 

"A  grand  and  impressive  statement  of  the  New  Church 
doctrine  of  the  Future  Life."— iVew  Church  Independent. 

Swedenhorg  and  Channing.   Pp.  288,  12mo.   60  cents. 

"  A  very  interesting  wor^."— Pittsburgh  Commercial  Gazette. 
"  The  spirit  of  the  Avork  is  excellent."— T/ie  Congregationalist. 

Letters  to  Beeclier  on  the  Diyine  Trinity.  Extra  cloth, 
pp.  160,  12mo.    Price  50  cents. 

Presenting  with  great  clearness  and  force  the  doctrine  of 
-  the  Divine  Trinity  as  taught  by  Emanuel  Swedenborg. 

The  New  Cliurch;  Its  Nature  and  Whereabout.  Pp. 

213,  12mo.    Price  50  cents. 

Showing  that  this  Church  is  not  a  sect,  but  much  wider  and 
more  comprehensive  than  any  existing  religious  organization. 

A  Bisliop^s  Grun  Reversed.  Being  an  Attack  on  the  New 
Church  by  Bishop  Burgess,  and  the  Eeply  thereto  by  B. 
F.  Barrett.    Pp.  220,  18mo.    Price  25  cents. 

"  Your  reply  to  Bishop  Burgess  is  doing  good  here.  . .  When 
read  along  with  the  Bishop's  attack  the  effect  produced  is  ex- 
cellent.  By  all  means  have  the  attack  added."   (It  is  added.) 

Memorial  to  the  General  Conyention ;  and  full  Text  of 
passages  in  Swedenborg  referred  to,  revealing  the  grand 
catholicity  of  his  teachings.  Pp.  95.  Price  6  cents ;  five 
copies  for  25  cents. 

Tlie  Man  and  His  Mission.   In  two  Parts.   Pp.  60, 12mo. 

Price  5  cents ;  six  copies  for  25  cents,  and  28  for  $1. 

Sent  (post-paid)  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  prices  here  named. 

Address    Swedenboig  Publishing  Association, 

.  930  Market  St.,  Philadelphia. 
9 


SWEDENBORG'S  THEOLOGICAL  WOEKS 


At  Greatly  Reduced  Prices, 

The  American  Swedenborg  Printing  and  Publishing  So- 
ciety, desirous  of  securing  a  wider  circulation  for  Sweden- 
borg's  writings,  offers  its  large,  uniform,  octavo  edition  of 
his  Theological  Works,  on  good  paper  and  well  bound  in 
cloth,  at  the  following  greatly  reduced  prices : 

Per  Vol.  Formerly. 


True  Christian  Eeligion.    982  pp  $1.00  $2.50 

Arcana  Coelestia.    10  vols.,  5792  pp   60  1.50 

Apocalypse  Revealed.    2  vols.,  1100  pp   60  1.50 

Miscellaneous  Theological  Works.   526  pp..  60  1.50 

Conjugial  Love.    472  pp   60  1.25 

Heaven  and  Hell.    375  pp   50  1.25 

Divine  Providence.    308  pp   50  1.25 

Divine  Love  and  Wisdom.    199  pp   50  1.00 

Four  Leading  Doctrines.   247  pp   50  1.00 


When  sent  by  mail,  the  foU  owing-  sums  must  be  added  for 
postag-e :  T.  C.  R.,  24  cents ;  A.  C,  18  cents  each  vol. ;  A.  R..  15 
cents  each  vol.;  M.  T.  W.,  16  cents;  C.  L.,  15  cents;  H.  H.,  15 
cents ;  D.  P.,  11  cents ;  D.  L.  W.,  8  cents ;  F.  L.  D.,  10  cents. 

SPECIAL  OFFER  TO  CLERGYMEN. 

This  Society  offers  to  clergymen  of  all  denominations  its  full 
set  of  Swedenborg-'s  Theological  Works  (19  volumes,  8vo),  con- 
taining 9,4S4  pages,  on  good  paper,  well  bound  in  cloth,  boxed 
ready  for  shipment  from  New  York,  for 

Sr.so. 

To  those  who  have  already  received  "  Heaven  and  HeU,"  "  True 
Christian  Religion,"  and  "Apocalypse  Revealed,"  the  set,  exclu- 
sive of  these,  will  be  sent  for 

86. OO. 

The  Four  Doctrixes,  32mo,  .372  pages,  flexible  cloth.  Single 
copy,  20  cents ;  seven  copies  for  Sl.OO,  postage  included ;  fifty 
copies  for  S5.00,  postage  not  included.  Same  on  fine  paper,  vel- 
lum cloth,  gilt  edges,  30  cents ;  four  copies  for  §1.00,  postage  in- 
cluded. 

Address  SWINNEY, 

20  Cooper  Union,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

10 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 

1  1012  01013, 

1185 

